CAPITOL NOTEBOOK INTERNET SITE SLICES, DICES PROPOSITIONS.

Byline: Dorothy Korber

LIKE hibernating bears awakened three months early, California voters are rubbing their eyes and trying to make sense of a long and confusing March 7 ballot. Things were simpler when our state primary was in June, and the presidential race was a done deal.

This time our votes count, heaven help us, so we have to sit up and pay attention. But preparing for this election is like cramming for the bar exam. The open primary means we can vote for any candidate, regardless of political party. That means 23 choices for president on the ballot, from Donald Trump to Ralph Nader.

But California's ballots are coded so that the political parties can count only their own registered members' votes for president. Cross over at your peril.

The real March madness, though, will be sifting through the 20 ballot measures.

If you watch television commercials, you already know that Propositions 30 and 31 present two choices: being devoured by ravenous insurance wolves or seeing your family nest egg stolen by ravenous trial lawyers. But what about the other 18 propositions?

Don't despair, plucky voter. Just sing ``The Proposition Song'':

``Oh, there once was a proposition, its number was One-A,

``The first of 20 measures to decide by Election Day.

``One-A brings Indian gaming, slots and card games too,

``It's followed by Prop Number 12, it's silly but it's true.''

You'll find the whole song - complete with animation and a sound track - on the California Voter Foundation's Web site at www.calvoter.org. You'll find much more.

The site presents easy-to-grasp descriptions of all the ballot measures, as well as the top 10 contributors to each one. (This financial information permits voters to, in the words of Watergate's Deep Throat, ``Follow the money.'')

There are also candidates' biographies and positions, details on how the open primary works, and links to other political sites.

The jackpot hits back

The California Lottery is a tantalizing fantasy for the state's poorest residents, judging from a demographic breakdown of the most frequent lottery players.

The statistics show that 20 percent of the players buy 90 percent of the tickets. Among these frequent players, 41 percent earn less than $25,000 a year and spend an average of $16 a week.

On the other end of the economic spectrum, 26 percent of the frequent players earn $50,000 or more a year and send an average of $24 weekly on the games.

Lottery officials offer this insight: ``Lower-income frequent players tend to spend less per week than more affluent frequent players - not surprising, since they have less to spend.''

Unless, of course, they win a Lotto jackpot. Those odds aren't great - one in 18 million - but you never know.

Bills to watch

AB 2053, by Assemblyman Herb J. Wesson, D-Los Angeles, would require all toy guns sold in California to be made completely of clear or neon-colored plastic. The aim is to avoid confusing toys with real firearms.

AB 1964, by Assemblyman John A. Dutra, D-Fremont, would make it a felony to cause or encourage a minor to commit hate crimes.

SB 1599, by state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, would prohibit satellite and cable television companies from selling information on their customers' viewing habits.