Based on returns so far, looks like Cali voters are going the "useful idiot" route on props

[villager]

...voting as PG&E and Mercury Insurance have instructed them to do:

http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/props/59.htm

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Californians ARE IDIOTS

they will complaint and gripe but never admit that they voted for this, like oh Prop 13

I voted against them... but there is a limit on how far I can go. It is ONLY ME.

[villager]

2. I'm rarely on the winning side of propositions here, it seems...

The current sops to special interests buying laws, being no exception.

But hey, other states with ballot propositions: Emboldened here, big business will be doing it in your states, soon!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. In my mind the whole system should be scrapped

any more... and you are correct. This will move to other states. The only GOOD news is that these are early reports


So I have some hope, no, not really...

There are many a times I have thought perhaps it is time to move to another country... but things are not well in other places either. It is the rise of the right, and I have no idea what it will take any longer.

[Beaverhausen]

7. please don't call us idiots

I didn't vote the way PG& E and Mercury wanted either.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. NEither did I, but if these two pass

in California...

[villager]

13. I'm one of the "us," too, but we gotta face facts: our fellow citizens will vote

...based on the "bright shiny light" school of throwing enough ads their way to successfully program them....

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. +1

Why my faith in democracy and the ability for people to vote and be informed fades by the day.

Now the media don't help, but still.

[krabigirl]

25. I'm one of "us," and I can safely say that yes, many, many people here are idiots.

I didn't vote for Prop 16, but my goodness, by the amount of BS flyers they sent out, people probably thought it was good to vote for it.

[JI7]

3. there are a lot of dumbasses in California including many Democrats

[haele]

5. Well,looking at the turn out, the majority voting were voting for their GOP ballot

So of course, they'd be useful idiots to propoganda about saving money by trusting big business. These propositions are just going to cost us more in the long run, but you can't tell people bad news if they want to go through life following those who blow sunshine up their asses while they're picking their pockets.

Haele

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Why these are placed

during low turn out primaries... but people never learn.

[Lyric]

6. After Prop H8, I lost all my illusions of California as a "progressive" state.

[villager]

9. well, yes, there was that -- speaking of monied rightwingers buying results

n/t

[tiptoe]

28. stole results -- see 27 nt

[tiptoe]

27. Prop H8 was defeated in a polling of voters, but voters were defeated (secretly) in the vote-count:

Don't be disillusioned, be enlightened (and angry).

Historical WPD -- GOP election fraud has been overwhelmingly effective (82%-100%) in controlling many state vote count outcomes, 1988-2004, and not just on candidate races. California Prop 8 -- a "hot-button issue" -- apparently was targeted in 2008, resulting in another right-wing control of California culture via the counting-of-the-vote, despite losing in the actual vote. (See, too, Proving Election Fraud)

Click the link "Proposition" available within above for source and full article:

In the November 2008 election, the tabulation of votes for California's Proposition 8 --- the controversial ballot measure which resulted in the repeal of marriage equality by, for the first time, amending the state's constitution to deny the rights of Californians --- was "probably corrupted".

That's the finding of a newly released study issued by a coalition of election integrity organizations, as based on their analysis of an Election Verification Exit Poll conducted in Los Angeles on the day of the 2008 general election. "An investigation is warranted," the study concludes, into the evidence which suggests a likelihood that either "fraud or gross errors" occurred in the tabulation of that specific ballot measure.

The complete 49-page study has now been released on a new website, WasProp8Straight.org.

The poll was conducted on Election Day by Election Defense Alliance, Protect California Ballots, and http://electionintegrity.org/">ElectionIntegrity.org and was designed and researched with the help of at least one well known exit pollster, Ken Warren of St. Louis University's The Warren Poll, for the express purpose of measuring the accuracy of the reported vote count. It functioned beautifully in general, by confirming the results of most of the issues and races on the ballot. On Proposition 4, for example, which concerned a similar hot-button issue --- parental notification for abortion --- polling results and official election results matched within 2%, well within the expected margin of error.

However, for Proposition 8 only, the official results varied from the Election Verification Exit Poll by an average of 7.75% in the 19 precincts polled. In some cases, the discrepancy was as high as 17.7%. That is, of course, far outside of the margin of expected error and certainly worthy of further investigation by officials.

The creators of the poll, along with the analysts of the results and the authors of the study, seem to have gone out of their way to preempt the usual reasons for questioning and/or dismissing the methodology and findings of such polls. For example, as noted in the group's press release [emphasis added]
...

Scroll down, also, to the section on Sandra Day O'Connor's opinion-piece in the May 21, 2010, NY Times, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8475314&mesg_id=8481876

[Beaverhausen]

10. one more thing, there was a lot more interest in the republican primaries this time

our big races had no opposition; this time its all about the repubs- I am guessing there were more repubs out voting today in general.

[Frank Booth]

12. Thankfully, so far most of the votes have come from red counties.

Once San Francisco and Los Angeles get counted, I won't be surprised if both props have flipped.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Look at the maps

some of the returns are from LA

[Frank Booth]

18. Only 7% of LA has reported so far, compared to 13% from San Diego.

San Francisco's still stuck at zero. I think (hope) LA and SF should provide enough votes to defeat 16 and 17, but with ridiculous propositions you never really know how Californians are going to vote.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. These are also low attendance primaries

GRRR why they put these things on primary ballots.

(And Californians rely too much on adds)

[Tumbulu]

16. The official Democratic Party mailer suggested voting YES on these props

I could not believe it and remain disgusted that I got these recommendations from them.

[depakid]

17. California Democrats voted overwhelmingly- with little public debate for energy deregulation

in the legislature.

[Beaverhausen]

19. no, it only recommended voted yes on 13 and 15

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. There were three official recommendations that

were different and all supposedly from the same Democratic Party. Will the real recommendation stand up?

[Beaverhausen]

24. mailers lie. You have to check the website. Me, I used Courage Campaign's list

http://www.couragecampaign.org/

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Me I used the NO down the whole list

[4lbs]

21. The problem is that in non-Presidential election years, the GOP turnout is actually higher than that

of the Democratic party.

Look at the sum of the votes for CA Governor.

With 17% reporting, all the Democratic candidates totalled about 650,000 votes. While on the GOP side, they've touched 736,000.

So, the GOP usually saves the Props they want to pass for non-GE years, like 2006, 2010, 2014, etc. because they'll have more GOP votes to get them passed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. DING, DING. DING. DING we got a winnnah

[villager]

29. And here's where I'm happy to eat my hat! It appears, with 100% of the votes

...counted, that Mercury and PG&E actually lost!

Color me shocked:

http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/props/59.htm

Especially since the leads for Mercury/PG&E were growing when I went to bed...!