Low Voter Turnout Expected : Elections: In the quake-ravaged north, spending plans face uphill battles Tuesday. Those going to the polls elsewhere in the state will be asked to fund highway and transit projects.

SAN FRANCISCO —  Political operatives have been trying in recent days to reinvigorate earthquake-jolted campaigns in Northern California in time for Tuesday’s election, but they expected light turn-out and even more hesitation than normal to approve money measures.

Although there are no statewide issues on the ballot, scores of local issues throughout California will be decided this Tuesday. In Orange and San Bernardino counties, voters were being asked to pay for highway improvements and transit projects.

With the earthquake dominating attention in San Francisco, election officials predicted turn-out would not top 25%, and some campaign managers believe voters will be more hesitant than usual to pass money measures, given the billions of dollars in quake-related damage.

One ballot measure would authorize construction of a new baseball stadium for the San Francisco Giants. Another would grant live-in lovers some rights afforded to married couples. Despite support from Mayor Art Agnos, both measures appeared to be in trouble last week.

Campaign funds in support of the domestic partners’ measure dried up, and people working on both measures turned their attention to earthquake relief in the days after the Oct. 17 quake.

But as the initial shock wore off, Giants owner Bob Lurie announced that he was steadfast in his demand for a new stadium. He would rather leave San Francisco than continue to field his club at chilly, windy Candlestick Park, he said.

Attempting to stir up pro-stadium support, Scott Shafer, a spokesman for Agnos, said revenue from a stadium is “more important now than ever,” given an expected decline in the city’s main industry--tourism.

Added Corey Busch, the Giants’ vice president: “If San Franciscans don’t show that they’re willing to invest in San Francisco, how can they expect the rest of the country to invest in it?”

With earthquake safety on voters’ minds, opponents noted that the stadium would be built in China Basin, a landfill area south of downtown that, though relatively unscathed in the quake last month, was heavily damaged in the 1906 San Francisco quake. Opponents also say the stadium will cost San Francisco $60 million in loans, payments and other costs--figures that backers dispute.

“Anything that is seismicly related, people will say, ‘Yeah, we ought to spend money on that,’ ” said Ed McGovern, who is running the stadium measure. He added the election will turn on whether voters believe that the new park would take money from essential services.

Opponents of the measure giving recognition to live-in lovers also cite cost--as well as claims by the Catholic Church and other religious groups that it would undermine marriage and family.

Earlier this year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors took an action giving domestic partners the right to record their relationships with the county, allowing those who are city workers to take bereavement leaves after the death of their lovers and ensuring that they received the same hospital visitation rights as married couples.

But opponents quickly filed to take the matter to the electorate on the Tuesday ballot, where it be decided.

In quake-ravaged Watsonville, officials postponed until Dec. 5 what was to be the town’s first by-district City Council election. Latinos, who have long fought for representation on the council, won a federal court decision mandating that districts be created to ensure that all parts of the city had a voice in local government.

Watsonville City Clerk Lorraine Washington said she postponed the election because three polling places were destroyed and several poll workers were displaced or “traumatized” by the quake.

The political effects of the earthquake may extend to Orange and San Bernardino counties, where voters are being asked to increase the sales tax from 6 to 6 1/2 cents on the dollar to finance projects experts say will ease traffic in the rapidly growing regions.

Foes have defeated similar measures in the past, and may be aided this year by the expected passage by the Legislature of a special statewide sales tax hike to aid Bay Area earthquake victims, as well as a statewide gasoline tax scheduled for the June, 1990, ballot.

“We think people are turned off by the thought of another tax,” said Pat Aleman of Barstow Citizens Against Taxes. “We think they’re going to close the wallet.”

In Orange County, a major chunk of the $3.1 billion that would be generated during the 20-year life of the tax is earmarked for the widening of a 25-mile stretch of the Santa Ana Freeway from six to 12 lanes. Another $775 million would go toward transit projects, such as the expansion of Los Angeles-to-San Diego commuter rail service. Orange County’s measure requires a simple majority for passage.

San Bernardino County officials would have $1.2 billion to work with and plan to divide it among freeway widening and extension projects, local road improvements and development of commuter rail corridors between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Proponents say congested conditions plaguing freeways in the two counties will deteriorate to virtual gridlock unless residents dig into their pockets to supplement dwindling state funding.

“The transportation network is the lifeblood of our economy, and the continued neglect of that system portends tremendously negative social and economic impacts on the region,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Jon Mikels said.

The transportation tax measures, except for Orange County, require two-thirds voter approval to pass. Residents of four other counties--Monterey, Nevada, San Francisco and Santa Barbara--also will decide whether to tax themselves for transportation improvements Tuesday. Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles are among counties where such measures already have passed.

Other issues confronting voters around the state include a proposal in Irvine to exclude homosexuals from protections afforded under a local civil rights ordinance.

The law was passed a year ago and made Irvine one of about 60 cities and towns in the United States that forbid discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing and public services.

The measure to be decided Tuesday would strip the civil rights ordinance of a section that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. The campaign is being monitored nationwide as a key test of gay political influence.

A similar measure is on the ballot to the north in Contra Costa County, where a fundamentalist Christian group is trying to repeal a Concord city ordinance banning discrimination against people with AIDS.

A flurry of incorporation proposals on Tuesday’s ballot demonstrate that growth continues to pave the way for new, viable cities in many parts of Southern California.

In southwestern Riverside County, voters in the booming towns of Temecula and Rancho California will decide whether to merge and form the county’s 21st city--a 26-square-mile municipality of about 25,000 people. Four proposed names are on the ballot--Temecula, Temecula Valley, Rancho Temecula and Rancho California.

There is little question that the city could easily support itself, based largely on its strong sales tax base. But some opposition exists in the historic Old Town Temecula area, where merchants who operate out of quaint, turn-of-the-century buildings fear a merger with the suburban sprawl of Rancho California threatens their image and tourist appeal.

Voters in the Orange County community of Laguna Niguel, which grew 252% between 1980 and 1988, also will consider trading county government for home rule. The proposed city would stretch from Mission Viejo to Laguna Beach, containing about 40,000 residents. There is no organized opposition.

And in San Bernardino County, the town of Yucaipa east of Redlands is making a second bid for incorporation. Morain reported from San Francisco. Warren reported from Riverside.