ALIENATED RESIDENTS KEEP THEIR DISTANCE : SOUTH L.A.

Byline: Mary F. Pols Daily News Staff Writer

Cecelia Blankenship invited 366 people over to her living room on West 57th Street in South Central Los Angeles, but only 84 showed up.

It was a shame, really, because as polling inspector for the 2455th Precinct, Blankenship had gone all out for her voters.

To brighten up the chintzy cardboard booths provided by the city, she tossed down homey little crocheted throw rugs for her guests to stand on while they cast their ballots in the 1997 mayoral primary.

An American flag fluttered in the light morning breeze outside the door. Her 10-year-old tabby cat, Morris, stretched languidly in the sun on the front step, welcoming the few stray voters with a cordial meow.

But after 13 years working as a precinct inspector, Blankenship is used to being stood up by residents of the 9th Council District who feel disenfranchised.

Frustrated by a system that rarely makes a dent in pervasive problems like violent crime and poverty, people here say there isn't much point in voting. Their apathy is echoed, albeit in somewhat less extreme degrees, throughout the city. The names Riordan and Hayden barely register with most, and charter reform draws a blank, even with dedicated voters.

During the last mayoral primary in 1993, the 9th Council District had a voter turnout of 24.12 percent, the worst showing in the city. And in Blankenship's tiny precinct in the farthest western corner of the district, three blocks sandwiched between Normandie and Kansas avenues, only 12 percent of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot in the 1993 primary, making it just about the lowest of the low turnouts.

As she prepared to shut down the polls for the day Tuesday, Blankenship and her crew of three - precinct judge Clint Henderson and clerks Hattie Ellis and Dewey McCampbell - were faring a little better, with about 23 percent of voters within the precinct casting ballots. But overall, the 9th continued to lag, running neck-and-neck with the 14th Council District for lowest turnout citywide, lagging about 10 percentage points below the average for Los Angeles.

It's mysterious to them, why their neighbors don't care much for voting.

``I see them - when they're watching TV and something comes on about the election, they click on something else,'' Blankenship said. ``They'd rather watch `Roseanne.' ''

``I've heard people say, `My little vote doesn't count' '' said McCampbell, a 70-year-old retired postal worker.

In the presidential election last November, more than 200 people turned out in the 2455th Precinct, McCampbell said. But the local issues - the mayor, the school bond, charter reform and City Council races - don't have the same draw.

``I consider this very important,'' McCampbell said, shaking his head. ``The mayor, the councilmen - these are the people we're dealing with every day.''

Maybe part of the apathy has to do with the fact that well-liked incumbent Rita Walters' victory over two other candidates appeared so certain.

But more likely it has to do with a sense that it doesn't really matter who gets elected because life - what happens in the streets, the Laundromats, the restaurants - still seems to stay the same.

``I really don't care too much about voting,'' Vincent Brewster said candidly. ``I'm more interested in getting a job.''

Brewster, 32, an unemployed construction worker who bemoans the scarcity of ``Help Wanted'' ads in his field, said the last time he voted was when former Mayor Tom Bradley ran for governor in 1982.

He was 18 and dismayed when he woke up the next morning to find out his candidate had lost to George Deukmejian. Since then, he hasn't even bothered to register.

Inside the Laundromat, Daronda McCall propped her 9-year-old son, Arsenio, up on a washing machine and dodged the question about why she wasn't voting. She wasn't wild about Riordan, but she couldn't remember Hayden's name. The only issue she cared about was the school bond, because it might improve opportunities for Arsenio.

Still, that wasn't enough to draw her to the polls. ``I don't even know where to go to vote,'' McCall said.

While expressing regret that many of her constituents don't hold voting sacred the way she does, Walters said it's almost understandable given the poor quality of life they endure.

``A lot of them feel that they will see no change as a result of any election,'' said the councilwoman. ``They have just sort of lost faith in the system, unfortunately.''

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Photo

Photo: Volunteer Dewey McCampbell takes a break on a slow morning at a South Los Angeles polling place.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News