CAMPAIGN JOURNAL : Helping Voters Who Were Casting About : An Orange businessman, citing his ‘civic responsibility,’ distributed a small guide that put the measures’ pros and cons in plain English.

It might have been a moneymaker, but Daniel J. Scinto was faxing it away for free: an informed, opinionated, independent guide to the 28 ballot propositions--and only three pages long.

“This may sound really silly but I really felt I had a civic responsibility to do that,” the Orange businessman said Tuesday. “The ballots are getting to be overwhelming and very few people have the time to really sit down and study the issues.”

Scinto, a 41-year-old Republican with a Libertarian bent, distributed the tip sheet to his 25 employees, then faxed it along to friends. Even voters who disagree with Scinto’s ideology might have found the guide useful Tuesday as they lamented the devilishly confusing wording of the propositions and tried to avoid stumbling over the “evil twin” measures designed to cancel each other out.

One such stumped voter was Republican Sandra Fishman of Capistrano Beach, who spent 4 1/2 hours Monday night trying to decipher her mammoth voter information package.

“The ballot was ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous,” Fishman said. Even armed with the 143-page California Ballot Pamphlet, the 79-page Supplemental Ballot Pamphlet, the 35-page Orange County voter information pamphlet, a list of her party’s recommendations and a college education, Fishman said, “I simply couldn’t figure out if it’s what I wanted to vote for or not.”

Among the measures Fishman wrestled with were Propositions 135 and 128, each of which promised to regulate pesticides. “If you vote for both of them they cancel each other out, so you want to vote for the one you want to vote for, and against the other one,” Fishman explained. “But it was difficult for me to decipher which one was which!”

When she walked out of her polling place, “everybody there was just shaking their heads, using works like ‘ludicrous, ridiculous, asinine, makes you feel like a dummy,’ ” Fishman said, adding, “If we are going to get people to come out and vote, we are going to have to simplify the ballot so people can understand it.”

Even some voters who did their homework stubbed their toes on the nine-part ballot.

One Orange County newsman, who asked not to be named to spare himself the scorn of his colleagues, arrived at the polls with a crib sheet in hand. The green-minded voter had intended to vote for Proposition 130 and against Proposition 138 but became confused and “accidently voted so that the timber industry can clear-cut away half of California.”

Voters who realize they have erred while still inside the booth may request new ballots. But the newsman was home before he realized his mistake. He quickly called his mother and asked her to vote the opposite way to cancel out his vote.

Scinto’s self-styled people’s guide to the propositions was intended to avoid such pitfalls--as well as the disinformation contained in slate mailers that turned out to have been paid for by candidates or special interests.

“Having trouble voting on all the propositions?” Scinto’s missive begins. “Please do not look at the commercials. All of them are so misleading. Especially the ones who have actors and actresses.

”. . . If you are in love with ‘Flipper’ then vote yes,” he advised on Proposition 132, the Marine Resources initiative, which would ban gill and trammel nets. “Otherwise vote no. You decide.”

As one might expect, the Harvard MBA and former accountant recommended voting against the 10 bond issues, increasing motor vehicle fuel taxes, “Big Green,” and the “Save the Redwoods” timber initiative--but the self-proclaimed teetotaler suggested a “Yes” vote on the alcohol taxes.

“This gives me the opportunity to vote for a tax that I do not have to pay. . . . “ Scinto said. “If you are a heavy drinker, you should vote NO.”

And, despite the confusion and extra effort voters needed to sift through the complex initiatives, Scinto recommended voting yes on Proposition 137, the initiative that would reform--foes say hinder--future initiatives.

“This referendum will make it impossible for the Legislature to stop us voting on referendums,” Scinto declared. “This reserves the right for Californians to vote. This is without a question a ‘Yes’ vote.”