Anyhow, one of the joys of being a voter in the Great State of California is the dubious privilege of voting on numerous referenda/ballot propositions. I mean, some one has to legislate. If the legislators don't do so, you bring it to the people. Repeatedly. My favorite measure on the Super Tuesday ballot: Proposition 91 on Transportation Funds. Prior to each election, the Secretary of State sends out an official Voter Guide, where you can read the text of the measures, the official legislative analysis of what it will change, and pro and con arguments. Examine the arguments regarding Prop 91:
Pro: Prop. 91 is NO LONGER NEEDED. Please VOTE NO. [...]
Con: No argument against Proposition 91 was submitted.
Now, the official results, with 100% of precincts reporting. Proposition 91 failed. NO votes: 3,820,464 (58.1%). YES votes: 2,763,289 (41.9%). That's right folks, 2.7 Million voters in the state of California voted yes on a proposition that absolutely nobody supported.
1 comment:
I found your blog via Elf's DH, and can't agree more strongly with your post.
For a while, I felt that prop 91 should be a litmus test: it was the clearest the voter guide has ever been! However, after speaking with a few folks, I found that many do not read the guide (they say it's confusing). If you just read the text, prop 91 seemed like a good idea--so good, we already passed it.
Oh, well. I figure an uninformed electorate that votes is what this country is all about. Well, except for the uninformed electorate that doesn't vote...
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