With last week’s announcement of a recall election on Oct. 7, Californians will soon have to decide more than just whether or not to oust incumbent Gov. Gray Davis.

They will also be voting on the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin initiative, which earlier this year qualified for the next statewide election. The change in date has caused some political analysts to wonder how this will affect voter turnout.

If approved by California voters, CRECNO – formerly known as the Racial Privacy Initiative – would prohibit the collection of racial information about employees and students at any state institution, including the University of California, beginning January 1, 2005.

The initiative has also undergone another identity change – it will be listed as Proposition 54 on the official ballot.

Some political analysts believe that placing the initiative on the recall ballot favors its supporters. A recent Field Poll found that 62 percent of Republicans approve of the initiative.

“I think this is one election where the Republicans have a clear advantage in getting people out to vote,” said Matt Baum, an assistant political science professor at UCLA who specializes in public opinion.

Baum said since many Democrats are frustrated with Davis, they will be less likely to vote than “Republicans who loathe him” who will “likely show up in droves.”

Undergraduate Students’ Association External Vice President Matt Kaczmarek echoed this belief.

“Conservative people who have a beef with the way the state is being run are more likely to vote than liberal people who may not feel the urgency,” he said.

Last Thursday, the Field Poll released a study that showed that about 50 percent of Californians support CRECNO. In addition, 63 percent of those who said they would vote “yes” to recall Gov. Gray Davis also said they would vote “yes” on CRECNO.

Jeff Lewis, a UCLA political science professor, said that having CRECNO on the recall ballot might encourage some anti-recall Californians to vote, not because they support Davis, but because of their distaste for CRECNO.

But even if Democrats have a higher voter turnout than anticipated, how they will vote on CRECNO is uncertain. The Field Poll found that 21 percent of Californians have no opinion, and only 34 percent of Democrats said they would vote “no.”

CRECNO is the brainchild of UC Regent Ward Connerly, an outspoken proponent of Proposition 209, which prohibits race consideration in state jobs and public university admissions.

Since the passage of Proposition 209, Connerly has continued to endorse what he calls “color-blind” legislation.

“The intent is to steer the government away from classifying its citizens,” said Diane Schachterle, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Rights Coalition – a group chaired by Connerly that opposes racial and gender classification.

She added that the ACRC’s concern with racial classification is that it causes minorities to underperform.

“It’s negative stereotyping,” she said. “They will only live up to a lowered expectation.”

But fourth-year African American studies student Payshun Hamm said CRECNO is short-sided and damaging to minorities who want to embrace their heritage.

“I’m a person who was born in America, but whose roots trace back to Africa,” he said. “That needs to be honored as much as my Americanism.”

In May, the UC Regents voted 15-2-1 to oppose CRECNO, but as Connerly noted then, the regents resolution carries no legal authority.

But Kaczmarek said that the regents’ vote does commit them to inform students about CRECNO and make it easier for them to vote on the initiative.

He said the UC Office of the President has agreed to send out a UC-wide e-mail that would include a link to a voter registration Web site. He added that registering students to vote, and educating them about the language of CRECNO will be the biggest challenges his office faces in fighting the initiative.

Last Thursday, the Affirmative Action Coalition hosted a teach-in, attended by about 40 students, to discuss the effects of CRECNO.

Kaczmarek said his office will be working hard over the summer to keep CRECNO from being passed by voters in the fall.

“It’s going to take, more than anything else, a public education campaign,” he said.





With reports from Charles Proctor, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.