OUR VIEW: Numbers about this and that

Poll results, ballots received, vote counts, campaign contributions. We're reading and hearing a lot of numbers these days. It's not over. We have five days to go until Election Day and then the numbers will be dribbling out for days and weeks after as the ballots are counted. Some numbers of note:

$350 million -- Total raised for and against the 11 propositions on the state ballot, according to MapLight Voter's Edge California, which has been tracking the reports. That number is rising daily -- even hourly. The biggest dollars are for and against Propositions 30 and 32.

$20 million -- Has been spent so far by independent groups on state Senate and Assembly races, as of Tuesday, according to The Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert. Topping the list: the 5th Senate race between Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani and Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, now both residents of Stockton. Independent groups have spent almost $2.7 million in that contest. The 21st Assembly race between Adam Gray and Jack Mobley is 18th on the list, with almost $283,000 so far. Those figures do not include the candidates' own campaign treasuries.

The independent expenditure committees can spend unlimited amounts, so long as they don't coordinate with the candidates' campaigns. As of Oct. 20, Gray's campaign had received $685,665 in 2012, while Mobley had raised $24,605.

And now for some more down-to-earth numbers:

70 percent -- of the almonds produced in California are sold outside the United States. Another impressive note: 92 percent of the U.S. tree nut harvest is here in California, according to Richard Waycott, Almond Board president and CEO.

109 -- The number of new charter schools that opened in California this school year, bringing the total number to 1,065, according to the California Charter Schools Association. Merced County has only three charter schools with a total of 615 students, while other north valley counties have far more. Stanislaus County's 25 charter schools enroll a total of 8,669 students. Madera County has eight charter schools with 1,485 students while San Joaquin County has 35 schools with 13,454 students. Tuolumne County has four schools with 811 students. Mariposa and Calaveras counties each has one charter school.