Voting Behavior: the Vote on the Francis Amendment in the 1962 California Election

• Author: Paul J. Hoffmann,Jenniellen W. Ferguson
• Published date: 01 December 1964
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700411
• Date: 01 December 1964
• Subject Matter: Articles

770

VOTING

BEHAVIOR:

THE

VOTE

ON

THE

FRANCIS

AMENDMENT

IN

THE

1962

CALIFORNIA

ELECTION

JENNIELLEN

W.

FERGUSON*

AND

PAUL

J.

HOFFMANN

San

Fernando

Valley

State

College

*

Deceased

March

11,

1964.

N

NOVEMBER

OF

1962,

the

voters

of

California

were

asked

to

vote

on

a

con-

t

stitutional

initiative

measure

known

as

the

Francis

Amendment.

This

proposal,

hereafter

referred

to

by

its

ballot

designation

of

Proposal

24,

was

sponsored

by

Assemblyman

Louis

Francis.

As

it

appeared

on

the

ballot,

the

amendment

proposed:

Subversive

Activities.

Initiative

Constitutional.

Declares

existence,

purposes,

and

objectives

of

world

communist

movement.

Defines

communist

and

subversive

organizations

and

denies

them

political

party

status

and

any

tax

exemptions.

Prohibits

members

of

such

organizations

or

advocates

of

subversive

doctrines

from

holding

public

office

or

employment

with

state

or

any

public

agency,

or

from

receiving

any

tax

exemption.

Requires

teachers

and

other

employees

of

public

educational

institutions

to

answer

congressional

and

legislative

committee

inquiries

concerning

communist

affiliation

and

subversion.

Imposes

conditions

on

use

of

public

buildings

and

property.

Not

included

in

the

formal

statement

of

the

proprosal

but

singularly

important

dur-

ing

the

period

of

debate

on

the

proposal

was

the

stipulation

that

the

indicting

grand

jury

of

any

county

could

bring

charges

of

subversive

activity.

In

late

November

and

early

December

of

1962,

a

survey

was

conducted

in

the

64th

Assembly

District,

which

covers

the

western

end

of

the

San Fernando

Valley.

The

purpose

of

this

survey

was

to

determine

what

types

of

individuals

were

propo-

nents

and

opponents

of

the

Francis

Amendment.’

Ten

typical

precincts

were

selected

from

within

this

district.

Of

these,

two

were

classified

as

upper

middle

class

in

socio-

economic

status,

seven

were

classified

as

middle

class

( including

one

precinct

which

was

predominantly

apartment

houses

while

all

other

precincts

were

mostly

single

family

residences) ,

and

one

precinct

was

classified

as

lower

middle

class.

All

interviewers

were

political

science

students

from San

Fernando

Valley

State

College.

After

instruction

in

interview

technique,

the

students

were

assigned

blocks

and

instructed

to

interview

alternately

the

oldest

and

youngest

voter

in

the

housing

units

sampled,

alternating

also

between

male

and

female

voters.

In

each

block,

every

third

housing

unit

was

sampled,

a

housing

unit

being

defined

as

a

single

family

resi-

dence,

half

of

a

duplex,

or a

unit

of

an

apartment

building.

Interviewers

were

in-

structed

to

call

back

twice

and

to

make

no

substitutions

of

housing

units

or

persons

within

units.

Two

hundred

and

sixty-five

usable

interviews

were

obtained.

Forty-

one

individuals

refused

to

be

interviewed,

so

the

percentage

of

those

contacted

who

completed

interviews

was

86.5.

The

vast

majority

of

individuals

contacted

were

very

cooperative.

In

one

area

considerable

resistance

was

encountered,

which

was

traced

to

the

presence

in

the

area

during

the

previous

week

of

a

magazine

salesman

who

had

been

utilizing

a

letter

of

introduction

very

similar

to

the

credentials

sup-

plied

the

interviewers.

1

This

survey

was

conducted

under

a

grant

received

from

the

National

Center

for

Education

in

Politics.