At Napa Valley College, the elections have become homework.

In Dr. Melody Seymour's "critical thinking" English courses, students are required to study the election booklet and be well-versed on state propositions.

"Every election season (my) students really study the issues. ... I make them use the booklet, not the easy voter guide," Seymour said.

Students are required to annotate their papers to show they actually read the propositions. Seymour said when she first introduced the assignment, she found a lot of resistance. She described students' reaction this way: "It doesn't matter, it's too much work."

Now, Seymour said, many of her students have become energized about voting and concerned about the state of politics.

Kendric Newman, 20, said the assignment helped him to "read between the lines" and not believe everything he hears. The issues that most interest him are Proposition 83, which would firm up laws against sex offenders; 84, which would provide bonds for water projects and environmental cleanup; and 86, which would raise cigarette taxes.

"(I will be voting) so that I don't just become another statistic that falls under my age group," Newman said.

For Jon Walden, 18, this election will be the first time he will vote. He said that prior to studying the issues in class he "paid no attention to (the election) at all."

This week Walden said, "I will be voting because I don't want some of these crazy propositions to pass."

Several students, however, are unable to vote, either because they are not citizens, or because they missed important dates.

Irene Pantoja, 19, was looking forward to voting but missed the deadline to request a ballot. "My goal is to empower them, to discover the fire in their belly to control their own destiny, personally, politically and professionally," Seymour said.

Taking time to vote

In American Canyon, Millard Zumel said he is not burned out by the many times Californians have been asked to go to the polls in recent years, including one election just five months ago.

The 23-year-old NVC student said Wednesday he is particularly interested in the governor's race and wants to read up on the statewide propositions. So far, Zumel said, he has been too busy with school to study them all.

Most people between the ages of 18 and 23 vote like their parents, he also said. "Half the time, my mom tells me (who) to vote for," Zumel said.

Earlvin Rivera of American Canyon finds the elections confusing, but he's not tired of casting ballots.

"I'm kind of getting into it," said Rivera, a 21-year-old Solano Community College student.

He is particularly interested in the American Canyon City Council and mayoral elections.

Sheila Clute, who moved from Benicia to American Canyon this summer, said she has followed the governor's race on television. Yet because of her jobs, she has not had the time to keep up with the other races, Clute said.

"I work a lot," said Clute, who works full time at Starbucks, part time at Macy's and also helps a cousin's party sales business.

American Canyon resident Mauricio Vides said he is always interested in the state and national races. He tries to vote every time, he said.

"That's the only way to say 'yes' or 'no' on whatever we want," said the 49-year-old truck driver, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 1979.

He is interested in the governor's race and the propositions on the ballot, he said.

Amit Nischal, 29, of American Canyon, said he is interested in the governor's race, as well as the American Canyon City Council and mayoral elections. He also follows Proposition 87, the measure that would approve a tax on California's oil producers in part to fund alternative energy programs.

"You want cleaner air," Nischal said.

Another American Canyon resident, Joe McCarthy, a retired San Francisco Fire Department battalion chief, said he is tired of the elections.

"Oh, my God. Between 87, 86, 90, 1, 2, 3 ...," said McCarthy, 72, an absentee voter. But he is particularly interested in the governor's race.

"(The governor) pretty much sets our standards," McCarthy said.

He takes all the electoral races "with a grain of salt," he said. "Everyone is pushing their agendas."

Tuning in, tuning out

"It makes me sad," Gerry Reiland of Napa said about the election. "Too much media, lots of hype. I wish that people would use their common sense."

Reiland said she was most aware of Proposition 85, requiring parents to be notified when teens seek abortions. She was unaware that there was a Napa City Council election. She will be reviewing her ballot materials and getting up to speed before Tuesday. "I always vote," she said.

Jennifer Currie, 24, of Napa said she would be skipping this election. "I usually follow the bigger elections," she said. "I don't know enough to vote in this election."

It will be a different story in November 2008, Currie said. "I'll be voting for president."

Philip and Janet Gale, who live outside Yountville, said they always vote and had already cast their absentee ballots. "We always do our best," Janet Gale said.

They were most interested in the governor's race and state bonds that provide money for flood control and street maintenance.

"We're pretty conservative," she said. "As much as you'd like to have all these things that seem like good ideas, you can't afford to do them all."

If the Legislature were doing its job, voters wouldn't have to decide on so many propositions, Philip Gale said. Despite their big salaries and perks, legislators "don't decide things," his wife said.

Matt R., a 24-year-old Napan who declined to give his last name, said he would not be voting Tuesday because he has never registered.

"I haven't voted ever," he said. "I feel bad for not voting. I just procrastinated. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Mel Lindberg, a 75-year-old Napan, makes a point of voting every election. Though he quit smoking years ago, Lindberg said he's still opposed to Proposition 86, which would impose an additional $2.60 tax on every pack of cigarettes. This additional tax would go toward funding hospital emergency services, nursing education, health insurance, and tobacco-prevention programs.

"The tax is too much. Cigarettes are a legal drug. You can smoke marijuana everywhere and they don't do anything to you," Lindberg said after a workout of treadmill walking and swimming at Napa's Exertec gym Friday.

Though Lindberg plans to vote for candidates in all the local races, he sometimes wonders if this is a futile exercise.

"I think they're all crooks myself. I don't think it'll make much of a difference who we get in there," he said.

Data deluge

Ronald Nelson, 67, expressed frustration at the swirl of propaganda and mudslinging that he said only distract from the real issues at hand.

"I'm very frustrated but I feel the burden and the responsibility to vote," Nelson said. "All the stuff on the TV -- it's all-consuming. They project opinions, slanderous remarks and all the untruths. The whole process is meant to keep us confused, the way they keep bombarding us."

Nelson said he's rooting for the oil-company-taxing Proposition 87, and Propositions 1A through 1E, which would set aside monies for improving roads, schools, emergency shelter and disaster preparedness.

Other voters also said they feel overwhelmed by the massive amount of information voters are expected to digest. Steven Giovannoni, 36, said he reacts by not voting.

"I'm not knowledgeable about what's going on. I'm too self-involved," said Giovannoni, who makes his living through real estate. "It's very easy to look at the commercials and get misled. They throw a teacher and a firefighter up there and claim they're going to take all their money away, when really that's not the truth. In my opinion, only the people involved in (politics) should vote on most things because they know the issues."

Cristina Dorrough, 30, said she copes with the data deluge by voting as her husband does. She said 99.9 percent of her energy goes into caring for her 2-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son.

"I have my own stuff to deal with," she said while pushing her children in a stroller through Napa's downtown shopping plaza off First Street. "I should be aware of what goes on, but I've never been into politics."

The last time Dorrough said she felt truly riveted by an election was the gubernatorial recall election, when she voted for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace Gray Davis.

"I get all the packets in the mail and they're just sitting on top of the piano," she said.

Then there are those who say they absolutely vote every election no matter how many measures and propositions are flooding the ballot.

Laura Jones, a 50-year-old Napan, said before voting she tries to listen to both the right wing and left wing radio stations to hear both sides of the issues.

"I'm almost done reading that 190,000 page booklet I get in the mail," she said while strolling through downtown Napa. "I don't read any of the direct junk mailings. Whether it's Democrat or Republican I throw them out. They're all lies."

Cristina De Leon-Menjivar, Kerana Todorov, Kevin Courtney and Julissa McKinnon contributed to this report.