what's on your local ballot?

President, Senator, US Rep, State Senator, State Rep, a fuckton of judges running unopposed, bunch of Supreme Court/Court of Appeals "retain in office" votes, and ZERO ballot initiatives/questions of any kind.
I'm always amazed at how many some states have.

i'm abstaining from one of the court of appeals contests because the democrat-endorsed guy has been convicted of DUI and some other stuff like 8 times, and the other guy sucks

actually i think all judges in ohio have at least one DUI :(

Should idiots be allowed to vote?

Wait, waht? What's the specific wording there?

Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1

Popular Name
AN AMENDMENT CONCERNING VOTING, QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS AND ELECTION OFFICERS, AND THE TIME OF HOLDING GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Ballot Title
AMENDING VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION CONCERNING VOTING AND ELECTIONS; PROVIDING THAT ALL PERSONS MAY VOTE WHO ARE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, RESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, AT LEAST EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE, AND LAWFULLY REGISTERED TO VOTE; TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE RIGHT TO VOTE SHALL NOT BE MADE TO DEPEND ON ANY PREVIOUS REGISTRATION OF AN ELECTOR’S NAME; REPEALING ARTICLE 3, SECTION 5 OF THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION PROVIDING THAT NO IDIOT OR INSANE PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO THE PRIVILEGES OF AN ELECTOR; AND PERMITTING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO ESTABLISH THE DATE AND TIME OF ELECTIONS AND THE QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTION OFFICERS.

Voting FOR Amendment 1 means you support Amending various provisions of the Arkansas Constitution concerning voting..

Voting AGAINST Amendment 1 means you oppose Amending various provisions of the Arkansas Constitution concerning voting..

I would vote to remove "idiot" and "insane person" from the language. The more people who can vote, the better, I think.

Idiot has a formal legal definition: IQ below 20 (i.e. severe mental retardation). I’m not sure if a law needs to exist limiting a persons vote but if someone who fits this description votes, their vote was likely manipulated or forced.

San Francisco has a measure for renaming the local waste treatment plant the George W. Bush Waste Treatment Plant. That's the only one I can remember right now and I'm all over the "y" on such an imp. issue.

ten billion dollars for high-speed train from LA to SF (yes)
outlawing chicken cages (no)
billion dollars for 8 public children's hospitals and 5 UC children's hospitals (yes)
48 hour waiting period / parental notification for minors wanting abortions (no)
treatment and rehab programs and shorter parole for nonviolent adult drug offenders (no)
longer sentences for lots of different crimes (no)
bizarre, complex "alternative fuels" bill (no)
constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (no)
"victims rights" laws to make getting parole harder (no)
job of drawing election districts shifted from legislature to independent board (yes)
900 million to help veterans purchase homes (yes)

i forgot 200 billion dollar subsidy for natural gas trucks bill, written by texan natural gas baron (NO)

Should "non-married" couples not be allowed to adopt foster kids? (No.)

wait ... what? isnt this just anti-gay legislation or am i missing something? and is your 'no' a double-negative on 'not be allowed' or is it agreement with 'not'

not arguing (i don't know anything about this initiative) but why would you vote no on outlawing chicken cages? just curious

watchu got against chicken cages?

factory farming is disgusting, imo

oh this applies not only to chickens but also to smarter, cuter animals like veal calves and pigs. after reading about it for 30 seconds i would be voting yes to suggest ban cages for all

You know, a bit of torture and suffering just gives the meat that special taste.

in IL it was about a constitutional convention (i voted no) and enacting a recall law for governing officials a la California (i voted yes)

I would be a very definite yes on banning battery chicken cages if that's what the proposition is.

The people I work for (CA-based livestock industry magazine) are very mobilized against Prop 2.

Prop 1 to raise property taxes by a tenth of a percent to fund the school district. (yes)

Prop 2

Shall the City Charter be amended to prohibit the City from entering into future agreements to provide financial incentives in connection with the development or redevelopment of property that includes one or more retail uses, and to stop the City from providing financial incentives under certain existing agreements in connection with the development or redevelopment of property that includes one or more retail uses?

A couple years back the city gave a tax break to a guy who was building an upscale mall on the North side. In exchange for these tax breaks the homie was supposed to build green, guarantee x number of jobs & a guarantee a certain salary for said jobs. He didn't do any of that stuff, plus a bunch of local businesses are all "WTF dawg why you givin this dude ridic taxpayer money when we're over here struggling and shit," so a grassroots thing got started to cut off the subsidies. I'd be all for it except that they shifted the emphasis from THIS guy and THIS mall to preventing the city from ever doling out tax incentives ever again. That is retarded. (no)

the chicken cage thing is pretty complicated. I'll vote yes for it but the arguments against it are compelling (just not compelling enough to get over my emotional reaction)

if that law passes in ten years we're just going to be buying cage-raised hens & eggs from mexico, arizona and oregon.

anyone in NJ got a strong opinion on our two ballot initiatives and want to convince me to vote one way or another?

BTW i already buy the most expensive cage-free eggs i can get at jimbo's organic market

i'm more curious about non-violent drug offenders not getting rehab and shorter parole

well pretty much all of the drug rehab "experts" around the state are arguing that if you cut the parole time from 3 years to 6 months you're shooting yourself in the foot because making your rehab / treatment attendance a condition of your parole is a major motivator for getting drug offenders to actually show up to these things.

the other huge problem with the law is that the drug aspect trumps everything else. so if a person gets brought before a judge with anything less than assault w/ a deadly weapon + a drug felony they can automatically plead that it was a result of their drug addiction. that's why all of the DAs and most judges are against it - if the felon happens to be using drugs then it pretty much ties their hands to do anything other than treatment + rehab until something ridiculous like the sixth offense. i would support this law if it were aimed at, i don't know, decriminalizing possession but this seems to also be decriminalizing a whole lot of other "nonviolent offenses" too.

i guess i'm just not really into doing things halfway. either decriminalize marijuana or don't, but don't make the job of judges & police unnecessarily difficult as a way of doing an end-run around the tougher sell of decriminalization.

Should "non-married" couples not be allowed to adopt foster kids? (No.)

wait ... what? isnt this just anti-gay legislation or am i missing something? and is your 'no' a double-negative on 'not be allowed' or is it agreement with 'not'

It's definitely a sneaky anti-gay ballot act, and yes, it's a double-negative type bill that makes it even more confusing.

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Arkansas_Unmarried_Couple_Adoption_Ban_(2008)

So by voting "no", I voted that no restrictions be place on the foster parents' marital status.

gotcha xp

the nice thing about CA is that between the LA times, SF chronicle, SD union tribune, SJ mercury-news, etc we have enough of a spread of different editorial voices that if you see a consensus among the papers on a proposition it's a fair bet they're right.

I voted absentee in favor of the boring NY constitutional amendment (changing how disabled veterans are allocated civil service points). The MA ballot measures are much more interesting! Yesterday I had an argument with a couple friends, mainly about the decriminalizing weed on the basis of how it would change incentives for idiot teenage dealers. I think it does complicate things because it's such a halfway measure. I'll be interested to see how that plays out, as well as the state income tax question (!!!).

However, I am comforted by the news that my local congressional race may actually be close enough for absentee ballots to be useful...I want our incumbent OUT, even though his opponent is a bit of a smug attack dog.

I've said it time and time again already, but I still can't get over the fact that NOT ONE of my state's congressional representatives, including our Senator, faced any real opposition this year.

I did see my smug mayor who wants to turn my town into "a Disneyworld you can live in!" standing on the corner waving his sign. His opposition was a guy named Bubba Lloyd, who I voted for since I'm a sucker for double-consonants.

I got nothing, congress runs my town.

>>outlawing chicken cages (no)

I have annoying vegan friends who have made it their live's religion to vote Yes on this, but all of their arguments stripped from the hyperbole - that chickens should be allowed roomier areas within which they can do a 360 turn-around to rest their legs - seem pretty reasonable enough to me

you know, i agree, that that's what chickens deserve. but i just don't think this law is going to make that happen for these chickens.

Voting yes on the be nice(r) to chickens measure.

I kinda think that chickens and all birds are disgusting, tho, so why should I be nice to such a filthy animal?

ha ha

Yesterday I had an argument with a couple friends, mainly about the decriminalizing weed on the basis of how it would change incentives for idiot teenage dealers. I think it does complicate things because it's such a halfway measure. I'll be interested to see how that plays out, as well as the state income tax question (!!!).

The ‘decriminalization’ proposal is a mess. It would be a stretch to call it a “halfway measure”

I certainly voted against the proposition to give county employees biannual pay raises.

Voted yes for library bond.

Yesterday I had an argument with a couple friends, mainly about the decriminalizing weed on the basis of how it would change incentives for idiot teenage dealers.

I thought it only decriminalized possession and not possession w/ intent to distribute?

I haven't thought about it from the under-18 angle at all honestly.

Idiot teenage dealers are going to be idiot teenage dealers no matter what.

I'm voting YES on the livestock thing. Eggs will go up a cent per egg - boohoo. They have 6 years from the time the law goes into effect to update their facilities. That commercial where they talk about how we'll be getting eggs from Mexico resulting in kids getting salmonella, is 10x more shrill and hyperbolic than anything I've heard from my crazed vegan friend contingent.

OH NOES MEXICO THINK OF THE CHILDREN (i'm voting yes)

anyway this measure is my baby this year:

http://www.metro.net/measurer/default.asp

Eggs will go up a cent per egg - boohoo

it's not my behavior i'm worried about (because i already buy cage-free / free-range etc etc) or even that of my neighbors that i worry about but what the big grocery chains are going to do.

i don't think that worrying that the grocery chains will be tempted to buy their eggs from out of state is any more shrill or hyperbolic than the interstate health care mess everyone is worrying about ...

just saw a samuel jackson-voiced no on prop 8 commercial drawing in internment camps, loving vs. virginia and some other stuff about time jeez. maybe it's not new i don't watch much tv but the yes on 8 campaign has seemed more way more hard-hitting for months now and sorry equal rights aren't gonna be smuggled in being all smiley/no biggie/'HELLO it's 2008' even in CA. this has probebly been discussed

probably

big one here (md) is legalizing video slots. pretty set on voting no although i think it's expected to pass. fuck u o'malley u piece of shit

lets rename the state east virginia while we're at it

CO has the totally bullshit "let's define fertilized eggs as human!" referendum. Um, NO.

I voted in favor of assisted suicide despite Martin Sheen repeatedly telling me not to.

opening hov lanes to all traffic and banning tolls from being used to do anything to build more roads (no; fuck tim eyman), physician assisted suicide (yes), additional training for homecare workers (wasn't sure; didn't vote) mass transit (yes)

My mom( aged 75) is voting for decriminalization! (In MA). never thought I'd see the day...
I'm a little bent on dog racing - because it's a loss of a few thousand jobs.
In some pretty depressed towns.

I would totally vote out dog racing if MA could have some casinos.

Keep the state income tax.
Decriminalize.
Dog racing? I will probably vote for the dogs. but maybe not.

i just read about california prop 6. yuck. that's going to pass isn't it? people hate illegal aliens and gangs

slots approved in maryland

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i went 4 for 5. groundwater rights protection passed and i didn't want it to

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haha oops
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i just read about california prop 6. yuck. that's going to pass isn't it? people hate illegal aliens and gangs

i'm not too crazy about gangs. voted no tho. i was iffy on 5 (less jail time for nonviolent crimes; more rehab programs), ultimately voted yes, and it lost by a large margin.

the rehab part is good but there are still a lot of shitheels who should be in jail and not kicked out prematurely just because the prisons are overcrowded.

yeah i hate gangs too, i guess--what i meant was it's the same old "tough on crime" shit that doesn't do anything. trying 14 yr olds as adults, kicking people out of public housing, etc. i guess it failed though!

i am happy the payday loan interest rate cap referendum passed by like 30 points even though the payday loan people outspent the opposition 50:1. lol losers

voters here on my island voted 4 to 1 in favor of decriminalization of pot! About 7750 for and about 1900 against!

the pot decrim measure passed by a lot all over MA!!

85% of people voted to make English the official language of the Missouri government. In possibly related news, the Hispanic population of Missouri is under 3%, most of which is the Cardinals infield.

a big ascii art fuck you to arkansas voters! despite my (and ai lien's and pleasant plains') best efforts, unmarried couples (i.e. gays) cannot provide homes for foster children.

and another ascii middle finger over approving annual sessions of our state legislature! at least we still have term limits, you assholes.

it's severely tempering my excitement about obama!

Ha, you should see what I just wrote on the african-american/gays thread.

i registered to vote and there's nothing to vote for. can't we at least have some initiatives and referenda?

Let's see . . . there's:
-- a statewide ballot issue on whether to allow casinos to be built in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo
-- another statewide issue about forming a board to oversee farm animal issues
-- two competing county-issues, one on whether to replace the existing county commission with an elected county executive and switch to a charter form of government and another on whether to form a committee to explore whether to do the other thing
-- a 10-year, 1.9 mill levy issue for Cuyahoga Community College
-- local council and school board races in Cleveland Heights.

Haven't voted yet, will go after work.

Voting today on whether or not to booze up this dry town. Tried it five years ago, failed by 50 votes.

Won by 500 this time! Wooo!