voting

I expected early voting lines last weekend to be shorter because the Obama hysteria had passed, but instead of our usual 15 minute wait, we waited over two hours.

My favorite thing to do while waiting in line to vote is catching people on the way out and asking, "So who'd you vote for?" But that got old quick, and since we were in a library I grabbed a book.

As an adult I find that I enjoy answering standardized test questions, so I grabbed an SAT prep book. I flipped open to a random section and started doing practice questions with Cindy. The questions would give us a sentence and we'd have to fill in blanks with the appropriate words. Most of the questions were easy for us because we're older and have had more exposure to the language, but I don't understand how a vocabulary test is an indicator of a high school student's ability to succeed in college. If a kid goes to a shitty high school or can't afford to take an SAT prep class, they're going to be disadvantaged. And I'm not saying there's an objective way to do this, and maybe the kids who have taken the time to memorize vocab words will do better in college, but maybe the questions more like the LSAT and can't be as easily prepared for.

Anyway, we finally got to the front of the line and when I saw the ballot, I realized why the line was so long.

In addition to the various races we had to vote on (including probably 50+ judicial retentions), we also had to vote on four other questions. The first was a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution. I got a pamphlet in the mail about it a couple of weeks earlier, so I knew I was going to vote in favor of the amendment. But if I hadn't, here's what was written on the ballot.

Explanation of Amendment

Upon approval by the voters, the proposed amendment, which takes effect on January 9, 2013, adds a new section to the General Provisions Article of the Illinois Constitution. The new section would require a three-fifths majority vote of each chamber of the General Assembly, or the governing body of a unit of local government, school district, or pension or retirement system, in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system. At the general election to be held on November 6, 2012, you will be called upon to decide whether the proposed amendment should become part of the Illinois Constitution.  

If you believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to require a three fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should vote “YES” on the question. If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should vote “NO” on the question. Three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election must vote ÝES” in order for the amendment to become effective on January 9, 2013. 

Fairly straight forward, except it didn't define the current voting requirement to increase benefits (the pamphlet I got in the mail said it was simple majority, and maybe most people make that assumption.)  Either way, I didn't have an issue with this question


The next page had one binding referendum question and two "local opinion" questions. The binding referendum question, was this:

"Shall the City of Chicago have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such program?" 

I had no idea what was meant by "authority to arrange for the supply of electricity." So I left it blank.


The third question on the ballot was this:

"Should the State of Illinois provide funding for the normal cost of pensions for Chicago teachers in the same manner as the State pays for the normal cost of teacher pensions in every other school district in the state which will free up local funding that can be invested in the classroom?" 

It certainly seems like the person who wrote the question wants me to answer Yes. This was a Chicago specific ballot question, so why would any Chicago resident not want the state to provide funding for the normal cost of pensions for Chicago teachers if it does so in every other school district in the state, especially when the surplus funds would be invested in the classroom? I didn't understand why I was being asked such a ridiculously pointed question, so again, I left it blank.


Fourth question:

"Shall the U.S. Congress pass a bill, to be duly ratified by three-fourths of the states, adopting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, empowering the federal government and the states to regulate and limit political contributions from corporations?" 

This sounds like polling on whether Congress would have public support to amend the Constitution to overrule the Citizen's United decision. (I voted Yes.)


Happy voting.

Here's a cool feature on the Washington Post website if you're bored and wanted be disgusted by the amount of money that goes into negative campaigning.