Students show surprising support for parental notification bill

San Diego, Calif., Nov 2, 2006 / 22:00 pm

A large number of students surprised pundits by voting in support of Proposition 85, the parental-notification-before-abortion measure, in an Oct. 24 mock election, sponsored by the California Secretary of State.

The measure would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian prior to carrying out an abortion on a minor.

The mock election included 235,547 at 545 middle and high schools across California, and it was held two weeks before the Nov. 7 ballot. The students’ ballot included the U.S. Senate race, the governor’s race, and all 13 state propositions.

While final results will be known today at 5 p.m., early counts showed more students (71,359) voted on Proposition 85 than on any of the other initiative and that it clung to a narrow lead: 50.01% yes, to 49.99% no.

A poll reported in the San Diego Union Tribune indicates that Proposition 85 is within striking distance of passage by Californians as a whole, with 46 percent voicing support and 43 percent opposed.

Officials at the Secretary of State’s office said Wednesday they had originally planned to cut off the counting in the student ballot on Oct. 31, but decided to extend the deadline until Friday “so that a few more schools could get their results in.” At press time, 377 of the 545 schools had their votes tallied.

Details of the student vote are available at: http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/studentmockelection_06_results.htm.