In 2004, ballot initiatives on gay marriage and abortion brought conservatives to the polls, turning swing states like Ohio to George W. Bush. This year’s presidential race likely won’t be as close, but there are also fewer controversial propositions on states’ 2008 ballots. In fact, the busiest state proposition-wise is California. We surveyed this election’s swing states to learn what initiatives might bring voters to the polls, and assembled a host of links on information about the California propositions.
Colorado
Ballot measure name: Amendment 48
It would: change the definition of “person” in the Colorado constitution to include any fertilized egg, embryo or fetus.
The proposed amendment hasn’t received much support, as a recent Rocky Mountain News/CBS4 poll showed 68 percent of surveyed voters opposed it. Colorado’s governor Bill Ritter, a pro-life Catholic, has spoken out against the ballot measure.
Florida
Ballot measure name: Proposition 2—the Florida Marriage Amendment
It would: Amend the state constitution to “protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife …” (So says the ballot language.)
Florida already has statutes that say marriage can only be between a man and a woman. The amendment needs to receive 60 percent of the vote to pass, and so far, no poll has the measure reaching that threshold. New polling by Mason-Dixon shows 55 percent of potential voters support the measure.
Missouri
Ballot measure name: Constitutional Amendment 1
It would: amend the state constitution to make English the official language at all governmental meetings where policy is discussed or decided.
Missouri currently conducts all of its meetings in English, and the state has very few foreign-born residents—only 3.5 percent of the population.
Montana
Ballot measure name: Initiative 155
It would: extend state-funded health insurance to uninsured children.
The measure has no organized opposition, and is expected to pass. There are approximately 30,000 uninsured children in Montana.
Nevada
Ballot measure name: Question 2—People’s Initiative to Stop the Taking of our Land (or PISTOL)
It would: require land taken by the government under eminent domain laws be valued at its “highest and best use.”
Question 2 has already passed once, in 2006. State law says citizen-initiated constitutional amendments must be passed two elections in a row.
North Dakota
Ballot measure name: Measure 2—the Income Tax Cut Initiative
It would: lower taxes for corporations by 15 percent and taxes for individuals by 50 percent.
Opponents argue the tax cut (totaling approximately $415 million) would lead to less money for schools and infrastructure repair. Proponents say with $1.2 billion in budget surpluses, taxpayers deserve to get money back.
Ohio
Ballot measure name: Issue 5
It would: cap the interest rate of payday loans at 28 percent. The current cap is 391 percent.
The payday loan industry has vigorously fought Issue 5, spending $15.1 million to defeat it. It claims 6,000 jobs will be lost. But editorial boards strongly support Issue 5.
Pennsylvania
The only ballot measure is a bond measure to raise $400 million to make water and sewer improvements.
Neither North Carolina, Virginia nor Indiana has any initiatives on their 2008 ballots. In Indiana, an amendment to define marriage as something between a man and a woman failed to get through the state congress.
California
Golden State voters will be weighing in on 12 propositions, the most in any state this election season. [Ed note-boy, we're a pain in the arse.]
Proposition 1a funds a new high-speed rail line.
Proposition 2 describes how big farm animals’ cages can be.
Proposition 3 raises money for childrens’ hospitals.
Proposition 4 requires a waiting period and parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion.
Proposition 5 promotes rehab and treatment for non-violent drug offenders.
Proposition 6 boosts penalties for gang crimes and increases funding for criminal justice programs.
Proposition 7 requires utility companies to get half their power from renewable energy.
Proposition 8 prohibits same-sex couples from marrying.
Proposition 9 gives new rights to crime victims.
Proposition 10 gives rebates to buyers of cars fueled by alternative fuels.
Proposition 11 hands redistricting job to independent commission.
Proposition 12 raises money for loans to veterans
The California Voter’s Guide, with descriptions, arguments and rebuttals for all propositions, is here.
A chart with a list of every major California newspaper and civic organization’s endorsement is here.
Watch the TV spots for the hotly contested propositions, like Prop. 2 (pro and con), Prop. 4 (pro and con) and Prop. 8 (pro and con).
Ballotpedia, one of the sources used for researching this post, has even more information on all the propositions throughout the country.
Tags: animal rights, california, election 08, gay marriage, national proposition voter guide, nevada, Pistol, prop. 2, prop. 8
October 16, 2008
Proposition 1!: Medicinal Marijuana Use on the Ballot in Michigan
By Matt Stolick
Entering the 21st century, the neurological has become central to the treatment of disease. In 1988 neurological receptors activated by THC in marijuana were discovered. Receptor cites for THC are found clustered in the basal ganglia and cerebellum of the brain, likely accounts for its effectiveness in alleviating muscle spasms and symptoms of other body movement disorders as these parts of the brain are associated with these same disorders. Marijuana promises to help reduce if not eliminate seizures, spasticity and bladder control problems. The main experienced and observed effects of marijuana use are relaxation and increased appetite, quite valuable therapeutically for enduring cancer chemotherapy treatments, including regular nausea and vomiting, aversion to food. Almost half of oncologists in 1991 would have prescribed marijuana were they legally able. Today the second largest physicians group in the U.S., the American College of Physicians, has endorsed therapeutic uses of marijuana. This proposal would enable physicians to recommend marijuana where clinically beneficial and thereby providing informed consent to patents.
For many or most of sufferers who find marijuana therapeutically beneficial, no adequate treatments currently exists. Synthetic alternatives in the form of THC pills have failed to provide adequate symptom management for a variety of reasons, including difficulty swallowing, metabolizing, and titrating. From a moral perspective, justice demands a citizen have the right to effective medical treatment. To deny this right, there must be provided very good justification. Society has none to justify wielding justice so as to punish and criminalize citizens merely treating their illnesses in the privacy of their own homes. Medical marijuana users have a valid claim on society, to protect them from government interference with their medical treatment. Rather than protecting medical marijuana users from harming themselves, they are preventing them from healing themselves and creating additional problems in already stress-filled lives.
Laws forbidding effective medical treatment are violent and unjust. Rather than being a matter for retributive justice, medical marijuana has to do with distributive justice, namely of suffering citizens having respected their most basic human right of pain control (a right few if any would forfeit to even live in a society in the first place). By prohibiting medical marijuana use, repugnance develops, one for the aggression of a law that creates criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens, and for the law more generally. Voting “Yes” to Proposition 1 demonstrates compassion and a basic sense of justice, as well as the scientific realization that marijuana may actually work to alleviate the pain and suffering associated with a variety of medical conditions.
Matt Stolick, Ph.D. author of forthcoming book, Otherwise Law-Abiding Citizens: A Scientific and Moral Assessment of Cannabis Use (Lexington Books of Rowman and Littlefield, November 2008)
Posted at 12:10 PM in Current Affairs, Healthcare, Political Science and Economics | Permalink
I have confidence that Ohio’s voters will see through the lies and deceptions of the payday lending industry and vote yes on issue 5! Voters know that payday lending are usurious, predatory and are designed to trap borrowers in debt! Today, I voted to lower interest rates on payday loans from 391% APR to 28% APR. It’s time to stop predatory lending in Ohio! Vote yes on issue 5!
http://www.yesonissue5.com
Thousands of jobs really will be lost because the APR does not really apply to payday loans. The Loans are short term and the actual paid interest is miniscule compared to the 400%. If the rate is redused to 28 or 36% there is no way the industry could stay active.
California’s Prop 8 is not about prohibiting gay couples from marrying. While that may be the result, the purpose of the proposition is to define marriage – as that between a man and a woman. There’s an important distinction. The proposition isn’t meant as a discrimination tool, although some feel that it is; more as society’s way to preserve the sanctity of the institution of marriage.
sorry but by defining marriage as one thing, it excludes people.
[...] the election, we highlighted some key propositions in swing states to get a better idea of what might draw voters to the polls. [...]