KMAX: News of the West

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Proposition 54 has steadily lost favor with California voters, with nearly half reporting they oppose the initiative that would bar state and local governments from collecting most racial and ethnic data, according to a Field Poll released Saturday.

Just 35 percent of the 1,026 registered voters questioned by the Field Research Corp. in the Sept. 25-Oct. 1 survey said they would vote ``yes'' on the ballot measure 49 percent planned to vote ``no.''

In an early September poll, voters were evenly split on Proposition 54, with 40 percent for it, 40 percent opposed and the remainder undecided. As recently as August, the numbers were nearly opposite from where they stand now, with 48 percent supporting the measure.

Voter attitudes toward Proposition ``have become increasingly negative as more voters have become aware of the measure,'' said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll.

The proposed constitutional amendment that has been largely overshadowed by Tuesday's gubernatorial recall. It asks voters whether state and local governments should be restricted from collecting and using information on an individual's race, ethnicity, color or national origin.

It was sponsored by University of California Regent Ward Connerly, the man who used a ballot initiative to ban affirmative action in public hiring and education in California seven years ago.

The new poll found opposition to Proposition 54 growing across the state and among voters of all races, ages, genders and political affiliations during the last month. But as with previous surveys, the trend was strongest among minorities, registered Democrats and voters who intended to vote ``no'' on the measure to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

More than three out of four black voters opposed the initiative, compared to the half who felt that way in early September. Geographically, Los Angeles County had the highest percentage of ``No on 54'' voters 53 percent compared to 46 percent in the San Francisco Bay area.

When the poll was conducted, many voters said they didn't know where the major candidates running in the recall election stood on Proposition 54 even though the candidates all had taken positions. The uncertainty was greatest when it came to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Although Schwarzenegger has come out against the measure, 22 percent of those questioned thought he favored it while 19 percent correctly figured he was against it.

A coalition opposing the initiative includes doctors' groups and civil rights advocates, who say its ban on racial data collection would harm anti-discrimination and public health efforts.

In an interview with The Associated Press before the poll was published, Connerly predicted the initiative probably would fail.

The Field Poll results mirrored the findings of a Los Angeles Times poll released earlier this week, which reported 54 percent of likely voters opposing the initiative and 31 percent supporting it.

The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.