Propositions

For many Web surfers this week, a simple search request led to a crude awakening. Anyone looking for information on Proposition 87, a proposed tax on oil produced in California, and going to the "No on 87" website was instead redirected to "Yes on 87." At least for a while. In the high-tech, high-stakes world of cyberpolitics, it seems that supporters of Proposition 87 registered several "no" sites and then redirected viewers to "yes."

Voters will encounter 13 statewide ballot measures next month involving such disparate subjects as levees, abortion, taxes, sex offenders and campaign contributions. Five of the propositions are linked to a public works borrowing package hammered out in the Legislature. Lawmakers used their authority to put those measures on the ballot after months of negotiations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

No matter which side people take in the debate on Proposition 85, they generally agree on this: Parents like to know what their children do. What opponents and supporters passionately disagree on is this: whether the state should require abortion providers to inform a parent about an underage daughter's request for an abortion -- and whether that helps protect her.

Backers of the $37 billion in public works bonds on the November ballot are anxious about how Californians are going to vote -- but not on their own proposals. A measure that will appear a few notches down the ballot threatens to undermine the package hatched by the governor and Legislature to shore up levees, repair and expand freeways, and build schools and affordable housing.

Voters today will decide 13 statewide ballot measures involving such disparate subjects as abortion, campaign contributions, levees, sex offenders and taxes. Proposition 1A-1E Infrastructure bonds The state Legislature put this package of mostly multibillion-dollar borrowing measures on the ballot to pay for modernization of the state's crumbling public works. Proposition 1A would prevent the state from using the gasoline taxes it collects for anything other than transportation projects.

While congressional and gubernatorial races grabbed headlines, voters also decided 205 ballot measures across the nation. A roundup of some key results: Minimum wage Measures to boost the minimum wage passed in Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio. One was narrowly passing in Colorado. Affirmative action Michigan voters ended affirmative action in university admissions and government hiring.

After seven states affirmed traditional marriage -- and an eighth rebuffed the declaration that marriage should be confined to a union between one man and one woman -- activists for and against same-sex marriage disagreed Wednesday on the impact of Tuesday's election.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has crafted a political career around the notion that voters know best. "Trust the people," he said in his State of the State address. But to Schwarzenegger, some decisions by the people appear less equal than others. Three ballot measures passed by California voters have become inconvenient to the governor as he tries to balance a budget that has an $8.6-billion shortfall.

Re "Prop. 75 Could Weaken Clout of Unions," Aug. 14 In a special election full of divisive propositions, Proposition 75 may be the most divisive of all. I can't quite get my head around why wealthy Republican Joe Schmo, who doesn't even know a union laborer, much less a nonunion Democrat like me, has any business deciding how labor unions spend their dues. It seems to me that this issue should be decided by union members and not the general voting public, especially when millions of special interest dollars are being poured into slick advertising campaigns to influence the outcome.

The Nov. 8 special election ballot contains eight statewide initiatives. Here are four; the rest will appear Friday. Proposition 73 Abortion for minors What it would do Amend the California Constitution to bar abortions for patients younger than 18 until 48 hours after her physician notifies a parent or legal guardian. Defines abortion as causing "the death of an unborn child, a child conceived but not yet born."