California Elections : Prop. 187, Heated Races Boost Voter Turnout in State : Total is expected to reach projected 60.2% of those registered. In L.A. County, 53.46% turned out, compared to 52.87% in 1990.

Rising above the nasty weather and the even nastier campaign season, Californians flocked to the polls Tuesday--inspired by Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigration ballot measure, the heated governor’s race and an abiding anger at politics and campaign spending gone awry.

“I, like everyone, am upset that the campaigns this year were terribly negative and totally glazed over the real issues,” said Rich Foster, 30, of Thousand Oaks. “I had to avoid TV and force myself to read up on the candidates to have any idea where they really stood.”

Acting Secretary of State Tony Miller predicted before the election that 60.2% of registered voters would go to the polls Tuesday, a day marked by intermittent rainfall and continuing nonviolent protests of Proposition 187, this year’s electoral lightning rod.

By the time polls closed at 8 p.m., 53.46% of voters in Los Angeles County had cast ballots, compared to the 52.87% who voted in 1990. Statewide turnout should hit the predicted 60.2%, said Caren Daniels-Meade, spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office. “We expect to beat both 1990 and 1986,” Daniels-Meade said, and far exceed the June primary turnout of 37%--a historic low.

Near a polling place at Van Nuys High School, a small group of students opposing Proposition 187 walked through the neighborhood without incident. As voters streamed into Oxnard’s All Saints Episcopal Church, an anti-Proposition 187 march began at Oxnard High School a few blocks away. About 50 students from San Fernando High School gathered near voting booths at Paxton Park in Pacoima before walking back to classes.

Few voters said the student protests affected their decision on the controversial measure, which would bar illegal immigrants from public schools and non-emergency medical care. But after a barrage of television ads that often distorted issues and candidates, some indicated a measure of confusion.

John Pereira, 67, of Pacoima said he voted against Proposition 187 because he was upset at the students who left their schools to protest. When told that the students were opposed to the measure, he looked perplexed, shrugged his shoulders and said, “I guess I messed up.”

In fact, 32% of the voters interviewed by The Times exit poll at 85 precincts statewide said the tight race on Proposition 187 was the main event at the voting booth--no matter how they voted.

From Boyle Heights to Temple-Beaudry, home to some of the city’s largest immigrant neighborhoods, scores of voters cast their ballots Tuesday morning as precinct workers reported above-average turnouts.

The voters included recently naturalized citizens, those who had not cast ballots in years and others whose skepticism of politics had long since soured them on the electoral process. And some called the initiative mean-spirited, racist and divisive.

“187 is the main reason I am here,” Yolanda Garcia said in Spanish as she walked into Jovanna’s Beauty Shop in Boyle Heights shortly after the polls opened at 7 a.m. Suffering from asthma, she braved the rain to walk five blocks and cast her vote against the measure and its chief proponent, Gov. Pete Wilson. “This is a special day. I am sick, but I came to vote against racism,” Garcia said.

But sentiments ran just as high Tuesday in the pro-Proposition 187 camp.

“I think we are getting too many illegals and the taxpayers can’t take care of them,” said 80-year-old Vera Bedell of San Clemente. In Lake Forest, Ray Chaplain and his wife, Nannette, echoed a similar belief.

“It’s a protest vote,” 51-year-old Ray Chaplain said of his “yes” vote for the initiative. “I feel like I have to send a message to somebody that enough is enough. Normally, I wouldn’t vote because I’m so disgusted by these idiots (candidates).”

In Leimert Park, part of the Crenshaw district, Museum In Black owner Brian Breye said he had a high turnout in his African art shop turned polling place, despite the morning rain. John Walker, casting his vote at the museum, said Proposition 187 brought him to the polls. “I think it’s not fair that others come into California and get benefits,” Walker said.

Voter turnout was up from 1990 and 1986--the last two governor’s races and midterm congressional elections because of Proposition 187 and increased voter registration efforts by Democrats and Republicans alike, said Bruce Cain, professor of political science at UC Berkeley.

In addition, the state was home to at least one novel experiment--weekend voting in a few selected counties. Absentee ballots are at an all-time high, with the secretary of state’s office saying that absentee voters could account for a record 25% of the electorate this year.

John Brennan, director of The Times Poll, said preliminary exit polls showed Proposition 187, the governor’s race and the race for U.S. Senate to be at the forefront of voters’ minds this Election Day. About 34% of those asked said their main reason for voting was to cast a ballot for Gov. Pete Wilson or Treasurer Kathleen Brown in their bids for governor; 20% were interested in the Senate race between Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike Huffington.

Jo Miller, 60, voted for Wilson, saying the governor had earned back her support after taking a tough stance on illegal immigration and backing Proposition 187. “I sent him a small donation about a month ago and told him that it was about time he started working on our illegal alien problem,” said the self-described “staunch Republican” from Costa Mesa.

Clad in sweat pants and a Dallas Cowboys cap, Roy Sanchez, 30, said he voted for Brown and Huffington because they were a little better than the other candidates. “It’s just which of the two evils do you support,” said Sanchez, who voted at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Oxnard. “I went with Huffington because I hated Feinstein a little more.”

Walking toward his polling place at Oxnard’s All Saints Episcopal Church, Joe Gray, 59, said he had still not made up his mind. Huffington or Feinstein? It was such a difficult choice, he said. He did not care much for either candidate.

Some, however, did not have Gray’s problem. Retirees Ralph and Bonnie Rampton went to the polls in Thousand Oaks to kick the bums out. They said Tuesday that they wanted to voice their dissatisfaction with the present slate of elected officials.

“Normally we disagree with one another, and our votes cancel each other out,” Bonnie Rampton said. “But this year we’re both fed up with the politicians.

“We refused to vote like sheep,” she said. “We wanted to get the rascals out.”

* A VOTE TO REMEMBER: Newly minted U.S. citizen happily votes for the first time. B1

Voter Turnout

Here is a list of state voter turnout percentages for presidential and gubernatorial primary and general elections.

Year Election Turnout Candidates Nov. 1994 Gubernatorial general 60.2% * Wilson-Brown June 1994 Gubernatorial primary 35.0% Nov. 1992 Presidential general 75.3% Bush-Clinton June 1992 Presidential primary 47.4% Nov. 1990 Gubernatorial general 58.6% Wilson-Feinstein June 1990 Gubernatorial primary 41.5% Nov. 1988 Presidential general 72.8% Dukakis-Bush June 1988 Presidential primary 46.1% Nov. 1986 Gubernatorial general 60.0% Deukmejian-Bradley June 1986 Gubernatorial primary 38.6% Nov. 1984 Presidential general 73.9% Reagan-Mondale June 1984 Presidential primary 49.3% Nov. 1982 Gubernatorial general 69.7% Deukmejian-Bradley June 1982 Gubernatorial primary 52.9% Nov. 1980 Presidential general 76.5% Reagan-Carter June 1980 Presidential primary 64.2% Nov. 1978 Gubernatorial general 68.7% Brown-Younger June 1978 Gubernatorial primary 74.1% Nov. 1976 Presidential general 81.1% Carter-Ford June 1976 Presidential primary 71.2% Nov. 1974 Gubernatorial general 62.6% Brown-Flournoy June 1974 Gubernatorial primary 51.7% Nov. 1972 Presidential general 80.4% Nixon-McGovern June 1972 Presidential primary 68.9%

* Early estimate by secretary of state’s office

Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder

Compiled by Researcher CECILIA RASMUSSEN / Los Angeles Times