Next month's state ballot measure to prohibit the government's collection of race-based data -- which opponents claim would be detrimental to minorities -- shows surprisingly strong support from Latinos, Asian-Americans and blacks, according to a multiethnic poll released Thursday.
Opponents of Proposition 54 had expected that the state's growing non-white electorate would reject the measure.
The poll, commissioned by four education and non-profit organizations, found that 46 percent of Latinos, 42 percent of Asian-Americans and 41 percent of African-Americans support the proposition -- while just 31 percent of whites favor it. The measure is opposed by a third of Latinos, 40 percent of Asian-Americans, 33 percent of blacks and a quarter of whites.
"It's counter to what experts might have predicted," said pollster Sergio Bendixen. "The case against Prop. 54 has not been made, and if Prop. 54 is going to be defeated, its opponents need to find a way to turn these ethnic minorities around."
A total of 1,608 Californians responded to the poll, conducted in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Korean.
Respondents also were questioned about the recall election: Latinos and Asian-Americans are split on whether to remove Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 7, while blacks lean heavily against the recall.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat seeking to replace Davis should the recall succeed, is supported by 57 percent of Latinos and 25 percent of Asian-Americans, but fewer than a quarter of whites support him.
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's support among minority voters ranges from 7 percent among blacks to 22 percent among Asians.
| Continue Edwin Garcia's San Jose Mercury News article "Poll: Many minorities back Prop. 54"
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