NOVEMBER VOTERS' 'BIG TURNOUT'? 44%

A higher percentage of the state's registered voters made it to the
Nov. 2 polls than in any gubernatorial general election since 1994,
when Republicans celebrated an even bigger victory as they took both
the House and the Senate from Democrats.

Of course, California didn't help the GOP takeover of the House this
time. The state became even more blue, maintaining Democratic
majorities in both houses of the Legislature and in the congressional
delegation, and sweeping every statewide office.

And while the 59.5 percent turnout among registered voters topped
every gubernatorial election since 60.5 percent of voters turned out
in 1994, it's hardly a number to crow about. Especially when you
consider only 73 percent of eligible adults are registered, meaning
just 43.6 percent of eligible adults cast ballots.

Registered voters in Orange County were far more active than the rest
of the state in the 1994 (66.2 percent) and 1998 (61.4 percent)
general elections, but they trailed the state turnout this year, with
55.4 percent casting ballots.

More than half of those county votes were cast by mail ballots, a new
record for a gubernatorial general election here.

Mail voting shot way up after the 2002 change of law, which
eliminated the requirement that you had to provide a reason for why
you couldn't make it to the polls if you wanted to be a permanent
mail voter. In the 2002 general election, 29 percent of the county
cast mail ballots. That had leaped to 48 percent in 2006, and crept
up to 52 percent this time.

Marijuana Voters

A post-election survey found that 43 percent of voters said they were
more enthusiastic than usual about voting in the November election,
and 23 percent said they were equally enthusiastic as usual. The poll
by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 29 percent of
voters were less enthusiastic than usual.

Proposition 19, the failed measure to legalize marijuana, was
unsurprisingly the ballot measure stirring the most interest, with 38
percent of voters saying it was on the top of their list. Next was
Proposition 23, the failed effort to delay implementation of the
state's new greenhouse gas law, named by 16 percent of voters.

"Similar to Proposition 19, those who voted 'no' on Proposition 23
are much more likely than those who voted 'yes' to call the outcome
of the vote on the measure important," reads the PPIC report.

Those voting against Prop. 19 were Republicans (73 percent opposed),
Latinos (60 percent), whites (53 percent), women (58 percent), and
older voters (58 percent). Supporters included Democrats (56
percent), independents (55 percent) and voters ages 18 34 (62 percent).

But there are indications that voters are growing wary of the state's
initiative process, which some experts blame in part for budget
difficulties because some past measures mandate spending.

"Two-thirds of voters said the wording of the initiatives on the
ballot was too complicated or confusing," says the report. "And for
the first time in a PPIC post-election survey, less than half say
they have confidence in their fellow voters to make public policy
decisions at the ballot box."