Emily LoganAfter the results came in, San Luis Obispo County voters agreed with the rest of the state, as citizens voted “no” on every proposition except Propsitions 74 and 75. California voters shot down every proposition, making the election results a unanimous “no.”
The controversial Proposition 76, which would have created a state spending limit and allowed the governor to reduce school, community college and transportation funding, failed with a 62 to 38 percent vote, according to smartvoter.org. San Luis County also voted “no” on this proposition 57.9 percent to 41.1 percent.
Proposition 73, which also caused controversy, would have required minors to get permission from their parent or legal guardian at least 48 hours before getting an abortion. It failed with a 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent vote.
Proposition 74, which failed statewide with a 55.1 percent to 44.9 percent vote, was a “yes” vote in San Luis Obispo County, but by a slim margin. It received 49.67 percent of “yes” votes and 44.52 percent of “no” votes. The proposition would have increased the probationary period for public school teachers from two to five years and altered the process by which school boards can dismiss teachers.
San Luis Obispo County also voted “yes” on Proposition 75 with a 51.47 percent to 47.53 percent vote. Statewide, the proposition was rejected with a 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent vote. The proposition would have required public employee unions to obtain written permission to use part of any member’s dues for political activity.
Propositions 79 and 80 failed with the highest percentage difference between “yes” and “no” votes statewide and in San Luis Obispo County. Both received over 60 percent of “no” votes, with Proposition 80, which would have further regulated the electricity industry, receiving a 65.6 percent of “no” votes.
Propositions 78 and 79 were similar, and according to smartvoter.org, if both had passed, only the one with the most “yes” votes would have been put into law. Proposition 78 would have enacted a prescription drug discount program for those at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, while Proposition 79 would have discounted prescriptions for those at or below the 400 percent level.
Proposition 77 would have amended the California Constitution to change the process of redistricting the State Senate, State Assembly, Congressional and Board of Equalization districts. It failed with a 59.5 percent to 40.5 percent vote.
Some members of the Cal Poly campus are happy about the outcome of the voting.
“The Greens were pretty much against all the initiatives, so we’re pretty happy they didn’t pass,” said David Kirk, co-director for the Poly Greens club. “We didn’t really go out and try to campaign a lot, but our stance was just vote ‘no.'”
Cal Poly’s Progressive Student Alliance Co-Director Nelson Bonilla said he is glad they didn’t pass, but that the election never should have happened in the first place.
“The propositions weren’t very urgent and it seemed like a waste of money,” he said. “If Schwarzenegger really felt like he needed the election, he could have waited until March. Now we’re just not getting anything out of it anyway.”
Many students were upset that none of the propositions passed.
“In general, I definitely was disappointed,” said Dan Nutter, a civil engineering junior and member of the Cal Poly College Republicans. “Hopefully it won’t cause too much detrimental damage to the Republican party or Gov. Schwarzenegger. He was trying to do some decent things with the propositions that he proposed.”