Favoring Clinton Would Break S.D. County’s GOP Streak : Election: The many issues and races could draw a large turnout, but increasingly negative campaigns could turn off some voters.

San Diego County could record a first Tuesday, when voters cast ballots at the finish of a seemingly interminable election. If the voter opinion polls hold true, Tuesday could become the first time since Franklin Roosevelt that San Diegans have voted to send a Democrat to the White House.

Even Barry Goldwater, who lost to Lyndon Johnson in a landslide, carried the county in 1964. Jimmy Carter, who won the race in 1976, lost in San Diego County to Gerald R. Ford. This, historians say, is GOP country.

Until now.

The reason for a possible turnaround, experts say, is the county’s and the state’s troubled economy. Budget cuts. Deficits. Jobs. Joblessness. All come up again and again, not only in the big race but, consultants say, in contests for city, state and national office.

A gloomy economy alone may be the reason, experts say, that San Diego County could post one of its largest turnouts ever. Conny McCormack, the county’s registrar of voters, doesn’t do turnout projections--”Never have, never will”--but 273,000 people requested absentee ballots.

“And that’s a record,” McCormack said.

The county now has 1,383,328 registered voters. Presidential elections draw larger turnouts. In the 1984 election, 70% of the county’s registered voters showed up at the polls. In 1988, 72% came to vote. Some experts say the figure could climb higher this time.

McCormack said that if the current voter opinion polls hold true that the county will go with a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

San Diego County voters face a multitude of other races in 612 separate ballots countywide. There are mayor’s races, county supervisor races, State Assembly races, City Council contests, school board races and plenty of propositions.

County residents are being asked to vote on a half-cent sales tax for justice-related facilities, crime prevention and law enforcement. Proposition A, which isn’t expected to pass, requires a two-thirds majority for approval to provide funds.

Proposition C would provide San Diego County with minimum staffing for the Sheriff’s Department. Meanwhile, Proposition B would mandate a funding source for any measure requiring millions of dollars in new personnel or improvements.

Something else new in ‘92: Women in unprecedented numbers are candidates in high-profile races countywide, including congressional, legislative and mayoral campaigns.

If Tuesday’s turnout is less than expected, many fear a late rush of negative campaigning will be the culprit. Besides the focus on the economy and unemployment, increasingly nasty attacks have been a constant.

From George Bush’s attacks on Bill Clinton, to Susan Golding’s jabs at Peter Navarro and his at her, this election, in the view of many, has been coated in mud. Such a perception, in the view of some, doesn’t bode well in the closing hours.

“While the economy is the biggest issue, a lot of voters are falling back into real despair that anyone can do anything for them,” said Gordon Clanton, a sociologist at San Diego State University and a local political analyst.

“I feel there are many important choices to be made, but a lot of centrist voters--caught up in the negativity of it all--start to get the feeling that their vote doesn’t matter,” Clanton said.

Clanton is one analyst who felt, at first, that this election might be different.

“At one time, I thought it would be a better-than-usual election, with a better-than-usual turnout. I felt people were demanding it,” he said. “I felt the press was doing a better job, but, in recent days, the so-called horse-race aspect has taken over, and with it, the concern for issues has all but vanished.”

On each and every level, experts say, bitterness permeates the process. Charges of “dirty tricks” envelope the presidential race. Mayoral candidate Navarro has played on Susan Golding’s ex-husband ending up in prison. She’s accused him of taking pornography money.

Just last week, Golding sued Navarro, saying the $125,000 loan he took from his mother violated city campaign laws. A Superior Court judge ruled in Navarro’s favor, but, as Navarro heatedly explained, the damage of “unfavorable publicity” had been fully inflicted.

In races for two seats on the County Board of Supervisors, San Diego Councilwoman Judy McCarty has accused opponent Pam Slater of taking more than $50,000 from organized labor.

Dianne Jacob has accused her opponent, Santee Mayor Jack Doyle, of egregious conflicts of interest, namely in providing a city-financed, interest-free loan to a major developer. Doyle has fired back with salvos of his own.

Even Registrar of Voters McCormack says her office has come under attack in recent days. One local report accused the county’s voting headquarters of not having enough sample ballots available and of being impossible to reach by phone, unless you prefer busy signals.

“We spend $4 million in San Diego County on providing services for voters,” McCormack said, taking umbrage at the criticism. “We provide things over and above any place else in the country.”

McCormack came from a similar job in Dallas, where unlike San Diego, “voters don’t receive sample ballots nor any notice of where to go to cast their votes. We had eight phone lines in Dallas. We have 45 here.”

For people who do not have absentee ballots and who will be unable to go to the polls Tuesday, McCormack says they can vote from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at the registrar’s headquarters, 5201 Ruffin Road. For those who can vote in the conventional manner, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

McCormack wants to remind voters not to wear buttons or T-shirts or engage in any other “electioneering” within 100 feet of the polling place.

“And, they’re not required to vote the whole ballot,” she said. “People are always confused about that.”

McCormack urges those who want to know where to vote or who have other pertinent questions to call 565-5800.

McCormack shares the concern of Clanton and others that New York-based television networks will begin broadcasting East Coast presidential returns so early that West Coast voters will be dissuaded from voting.

“Voters should still go to the polls,” McCormack said. “There are still many other issues to be decided--U.S. Senate races, the mayor’s race, races for Congress, state Assembly. If the 15% or so affected by that don’t go to the polls, it could affect the outcome of many other races. So, please, don’t give in to that.”