FLASHREPORT

I'm as eager as any political junkie to see the outcome of today's balloting. On the state level, I'm confident Prop. 73 will pass and grimly hopeful Prop. 75 will crawl across the finish line. In case anyone is wondering how I voted, here it is:


I don't think I've voted "yes" on so many ballot initiatives in my life.

Here in Orange County, the big vote is on Measure D, which would give the Orange County Fire Authority a portion of the future growth in Prop. 172 sales tax revenues. OC Blog has been tracking that imbroglio closely. Measure D is part of a package of four measures that would allot Prop. 172 revenues in various ways. They were put on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors in a deliberate effort to confuse voters and lead to their rejection of the whole lot --  thus diminish the chances that Measure D -- the firefighter union's initiative -- would pass.

I wasn't convinced of the wisdom of this strategy until I sat down last week to fill out my absentee ballot. I already planned to vote against Measure D. I don't think the firefighters union has made a genuine and convincing case about why they need the money.

As I slogged through dense thickets of jargony prose that are Measures B, C and E, it dawned on me that most voters will likely say, "The heck with it" and vote them all down. I'm a well informed voters who follows these issues on a daily basis, and I had a time decided on the alternatives. I didn't want to dedicate a portion of Prop. 172 revenues, but neither did I want to prohibit a future Board of Supervisors from including the OCFA in that bounty. So after a considerable amount of time, I voted "No" on all four.

In my opinion, most OC voters will make the same decision -- especially those casting their ballots today, standing in the voting booth and unwilling to spend long minutes slogging their own way through Measures B through E.

So my prediction: Measure D suffers a decisive defeat today, probably by 10-points.