Voter support for a ballot initiative that would ban state government from collecting racial and ethnic data remains strong but has slipped, according to a Field Poll released today.
The survey found that 46 percent of likely voters favor Proposition 54; 35 percent oppose it; and 19 percent are undecided.
A Field Poll taken a month ago found support at 50 percent and opposition at 29 percent. Twenty-one percent of likely voters were undecided.
The ballot measure, dubbed the "racial privacy initiative," will go before voters Oct. 7. Created by University of California Regent Ward Connerly, Prop. 54 would create a constitutional amendment barring most governmental agencies in California from gathering information on a person's race. If approved, California would be the first in the nation to bar such data collection.
Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said that support for Prop. 54 has dropped as awareness of the initiative has grown.
"As voters learn more about it, it has become more partisan and more ethnically divided," DiCamillo said. "Awareness has grown over the past month to 41 percent, up from 21 percent in July."
The strongest support comes from Republicans, whites and conservatives, DiCamillo found. Democrats, Hispanics and liberals are increasingly opposed. Support is stronger in Northern California than Southern California.
"Prop. 54 seems to be following the pattern of Prop. 209," DiCamillo added, referring to Connerly's 1996 initiative that banned the use of racial preferences in California hiring and university admissions. "It started way ahead. As we got closer to the election, support was chipped away. And, the demographics of support and opposition are very similar."
DiCamillo noted that voters approved Prop. 209 by a margin of 55 to 45 percent.
"I expect Prop. 54 to be very close," he said.
| The San Francisco Chronicle's Julian Guthrie finds "Prop. 54 support drops, says poll"
Read the survey in PDF format
posted in data on August 20, 2003 2:01 AM | t (0)
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