Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed seven bills by South Bay lawmakers Thursday, describing them as unnecessary, unfunded or ill-conceived.

Among them was a bill, SB 382, by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Redondo Beach, that would have allowed new citizens to register to vote on election day.

New citizens are already allowed to register as late as seven days before an election. Schwarzenegger said that eliminating the seven-day window "inadvertently opens the door to fraud."

Oropeza said she may reintroduce the measure next year.

"California's governor, as a native of Austria, should have understood as well as anyone that making it easier for our newest citizens to practice their new right to vote is what democracy is all about," she said.

Schwarzenegger also vetoed SB 408 by Oropeza that would have required signature gatherers to have been registered to vote at the time of the previous election. The bill would have hampered paid signature drives, and Schwarzenegger - who came to office thanks to a petition drive - argued it would have limited the exercise of free speech.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, also had an election-related bill, AB 1151, turned back by the governor Thursday. The bill, which was developed with Secretary of State Debra Bowen, would have forced counties to set up a Web site or a toll-free number for voters to check their registration status.

Schwarzenegger declined to impose a financial mandate on counties, though he encouraged them to pursue the idea voluntarily.

Financial factors also doomed a Lieu bill to expand the number of Asian ethnic categories on state forms from 11 to 21, adding such designations as Hmong, Bangladeshi and Malaysian. AB 295 could have cost up to $1 million for printing of new forms.

"The governor's signed eight of my bills so far, and he's vetoed two," Lieu said Thursday. "It's a pretty good record so far."

Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 666 by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, to extend a grant program for home economics and technology education, citing cost considerations.

Schwarzenegger also vetoed two bills by Assemblyman Curren Price, D-Inglewood. One bill, AB 124, would mandate meal and break periods for publicly employed pool lifeguards and stage assistants, which the governor objected to on the grounds that existing break period requirements expose employers to potential litigation.

Another Price bill would have eased requirements for underperforming schools trying to escape state monitoring. The bill, AB 438, had the support of the California Federation of Teachers, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Schwarzenegger said he vetoed the bill because he did not want to lower standards of accountability.

Angelo Williams, Price's chief of staff, said Price is intent on reforming the state's Academic Performance Index system to make it "more fair for schools that do good in one year but may not do good in other years."

"Mr. Price is in this for the long haul," Williams said.

Earlier in the day, Schwarzenegger signed a Price bill making it easier for families to communicate with juvenile offenders locked up by the California Youth Authority. AB 1300 requires a minimum of four phone calls home per month and establishes a toll-free number for families to check on visitation times.