I can has vote
Well, it's official. I've voted. Voting in California is more difficult than you might think, at least for the conscientious. As well as the national elections, there are also state, county, and city officials to choose. And then there are all the initiatives.
I'm afraid I was fairly partisan about the people and simply voted the Democrat ticket. Congresswoman Anna Eschoo ignored me when I emailed about a visit to Congress (my only experience of her), but I still voted for her. I've not heard of any of the state representatives (except on previous ballots), so I hope that Joe Simitian and Ira Ruskin aren't too dreadful. The other, non partisan, posts I left blank. So, I wasn't very consciences there, but if I spent the time finding out about these candidates, I'd miss election day. I do care about the Presidential Election.
The tricky part are all the initiatives. OK, no on 8 ("eliminates right of same-sex couples to marry") and yes on 11 (independent commissions on redistricting) are obvious. But do I support a bond issue to pay for high-speed trains between SF and LA. Trains are good, but California is broke. This sort of thing should be decided by the legislature, which can balance competing demands, but the State Constitution prevents them from deciding on capital borrowing.
So, I cheated. I found some people who generally agree with me, and let them choose how I should vote. In the last two elections, that has been the Californian League of Women Voters. I hope they won't mind taking a man as a fellow traveller. I checked that I agreed with their reasoning and scanned the arguments for and against, and didn't find anything to convince me away from my lazy stance. Just like last time.
There were a couple of propositions that they didn't take a stance on (as well as some local issues that I had to use my own judgement on). As a fair-weather tree hugger, I voted for Prop 2. I nearly voted against Prop 12, until I discovered that this was renewing an existing provision that had unanimous support in the legislature.
Anyway, I sent off my ballot on Monday. Santa Clara county allows you to check online whether your ballot has arrived (cool, eh!). Mine arrived on Thursday, which is pretty good going. Years ago, I used to receive the ballot only days before the election, so I doubt that many of those votes counted. Now I know it does (barring gross fraud or incompetence).
Actually, this time there was a piece of paper in the election material about voting by fax or e-mail, but I couldn't find anything about it in the rest of the election material or on the County web site. Had my ballot not got back in time, I would have tried that (I scanned my completed ballot for just this eventuality). Or maybe that piece of paper was a scam and those were not options. I wonder...
I'm afraid I was fairly partisan about the people and simply voted the Democrat ticket. Congresswoman Anna Eschoo ignored me when I emailed about a visit to Congress (my only experience of her), but I still voted for her. I've not heard of any of the state representatives (except on previous ballots), so I hope that Joe Simitian and Ira Ruskin aren't too dreadful. The other, non partisan, posts I left blank. So, I wasn't very consciences there, but if I spent the time finding out about these candidates, I'd miss election day. I do care about the Presidential Election.
The tricky part are all the initiatives. OK, no on 8 ("eliminates right of same-sex couples to marry") and yes on 11 (independent commissions on redistricting) are obvious. But do I support a bond issue to pay for high-speed trains between SF and LA. Trains are good, but California is broke. This sort of thing should be decided by the legislature, which can balance competing demands, but the State Constitution prevents them from deciding on capital borrowing.
So, I cheated. I found some people who generally agree with me, and let them choose how I should vote. In the last two elections, that has been the Californian League of Women Voters. I hope they won't mind taking a man as a fellow traveller. I checked that I agreed with their reasoning and scanned the arguments for and against, and didn't find anything to convince me away from my lazy stance. Just like last time.
There were a couple of propositions that they didn't take a stance on (as well as some local issues that I had to use my own judgement on). As a fair-weather tree hugger, I voted for Prop 2. I nearly voted against Prop 12, until I discovered that this was renewing an existing provision that had unanimous support in the legislature.
Anyway, I sent off my ballot on Monday. Santa Clara county allows you to check online whether your ballot has arrived (cool, eh!). Mine arrived on Thursday, which is pretty good going. Years ago, I used to receive the ballot only days before the election, so I doubt that many of those votes counted. Now I know it does (barring gross fraud or incompetence).
Actually, this time there was a piece of paper in the election material about voting by fax or e-mail, but I couldn't find anything about it in the rest of the election material or on the County web site. Had my ballot not got back in time, I would have tried that (I scanned my completed ballot for just this eventuality). Or maybe that piece of paper was a scam and those were not options. I wonder...