The poll that proves Proposition 17 should have passed (PDF)

The campaign against Proposition 17 was based on the strategy of confusing voters about what “Yes” and “No” meant – in the way the initiative was framed, a yes vote meant stopping the dam and saving the river. The pro-dam opponents seized on this to place many ads that talked about saving the river by voting “No” (focusing on idea that the lower Stanislaus below the dam would benefit by the dam), and other approaches.  This created lots of indecision before the election.  When Proposition 17 failed to pass on November 5, 1974, Friends of the River commissioned a poll two weeks later (the document here reports on that) to better understand what voters had intended – and the results were striking:  59 percent of those voting had intended to save the Stanislaus River in just the way that the initiative set out. A major factor in this was the fact that the anti-Proposition 17 campaign had a 2-1 financial advantage and could broadcast its confusing messages far more widely than could Friends of the River.