by Pa Rock
Citizen
Most states now offer some form of early voting, allowing people to avoid the pig push of Election Day. Voters in Vermont have been casting ballots for November's general election for nearly two weeks now, and Californians can begin marking and casting their ballots tomorrow. Within the next two weeks many more states will also start early voting.
My state, Missouri, has a long history of opposing measures that might increase turnout, and particularly measures that would help working minorities get to the polls and be a part of the democratic process. But Missouri does have an absentee voting process whereby people can cast in-person votes ahead of time if they have a disability that will hinder them voting on Election Day - or if they will be out of the area on Election Day and unable to vote in person at that time. A person who meets necessary criteria for absentee voting may vote in person at any time after ballots become available.
This year ballots in Missouri apparently became available - to no public fanfare - on October 1st. I voted yesterday afternoon at the offices of our county clerk. The process required me to look an election official in the eye and tell her that I planned to be out of town on Election Day. She responded that I looked familiar and that she had probably helped me to vote absentee before - to which I replied "yes" that she probably had.
And then, that dance being done, I voted.
Although not a fan of Missouri's senior senator, Claire McCaskill, I did vote for her yesterday in a direct response to her pledge to vote against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. There were two other contested races on my ballot - for state auditor and U.S. Congress, and I voted for the Democratic candidates for those as well. The other twelve elected positions had only Republican candidates on the ballot, and I chose to leave each of those blank. The remainder of the ballot contained three questions about retaining judges, four Amendments, and three Propositions.
One of the Amendments was a "clean government" measure designed to end gerrymandering by instituting an independent commission to draw district boundaries - and to limit gifts and donations to legislators by lobbyists. From the signs that I see posted around town, the Republican Party seems to be working against this measure, and I obviously voted for it. Last August Missourians voted to do away with the phony "right-to-work' legislation that had been passed by our Republican legislature, and those same energized voters have the potential to bring an end to the gerrymandering that has crippled democracy in our state for generations - as well as to curb the gift-giving power of lobbyists.
And then there were the "pot" measures - three of them!
There were two Amendments to change the Missouri constitution to allow for the sale, distribution, use, and taxation of marijuana for medical uses - as well as one measure to change Missouri law to roughly the same ends. Three measures in total to make medical marijuana legal in Missouri!
All three pot measures contained different provisions, and after reading what materials I could find on the proposed Amendments and legislation, I could not tell which had the best chance of passage. In Missouri where competing measures like those are on the same ballot, in the event that more than one passes, apparently the one garnering the most votes will ultimately become the law of the land.
So I voted for all three - better safe than sorry!
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Should the Grim Reaper decide to come calling in the next few weeks, the world can rest assured in the knowledge that Pa Rock had already voted!
Citizen
Most states now offer some form of early voting, allowing people to avoid the pig push of Election Day. Voters in Vermont have been casting ballots for November's general election for nearly two weeks now, and Californians can begin marking and casting their ballots tomorrow. Within the next two weeks many more states will also start early voting.
My state, Missouri, has a long history of opposing measures that might increase turnout, and particularly measures that would help working minorities get to the polls and be a part of the democratic process. But Missouri does have an absentee voting process whereby people can cast in-person votes ahead of time if they have a disability that will hinder them voting on Election Day - or if they will be out of the area on Election Day and unable to vote in person at that time. A person who meets necessary criteria for absentee voting may vote in person at any time after ballots become available.
This year ballots in Missouri apparently became available - to no public fanfare - on October 1st. I voted yesterday afternoon at the offices of our county clerk. The process required me to look an election official in the eye and tell her that I planned to be out of town on Election Day. She responded that I looked familiar and that she had probably helped me to vote absentee before - to which I replied "yes" that she probably had.
And then, that dance being done, I voted.
Although not a fan of Missouri's senior senator, Claire McCaskill, I did vote for her yesterday in a direct response to her pledge to vote against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. There were two other contested races on my ballot - for state auditor and U.S. Congress, and I voted for the Democratic candidates for those as well. The other twelve elected positions had only Republican candidates on the ballot, and I chose to leave each of those blank. The remainder of the ballot contained three questions about retaining judges, four Amendments, and three Propositions.
One of the Amendments was a "clean government" measure designed to end gerrymandering by instituting an independent commission to draw district boundaries - and to limit gifts and donations to legislators by lobbyists. From the signs that I see posted around town, the Republican Party seems to be working against this measure, and I obviously voted for it. Last August Missourians voted to do away with the phony "right-to-work' legislation that had been passed by our Republican legislature, and those same energized voters have the potential to bring an end to the gerrymandering that has crippled democracy in our state for generations - as well as to curb the gift-giving power of lobbyists.
And then there were the "pot" measures - three of them!
There were two Amendments to change the Missouri constitution to allow for the sale, distribution, use, and taxation of marijuana for medical uses - as well as one measure to change Missouri law to roughly the same ends. Three measures in total to make medical marijuana legal in Missouri!
All three pot measures contained different provisions, and after reading what materials I could find on the proposed Amendments and legislation, I could not tell which had the best chance of passage. In Missouri where competing measures like those are on the same ballot, in the event that more than one passes, apparently the one garnering the most votes will ultimately become the law of the land.
So I voted for all three - better safe than sorry!
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Should the Grim Reaper decide to come calling in the next few weeks, the world can rest assured in the knowledge that Pa Rock had already voted!
1 comment:
Fend off the Reaper until after election day. The no vote crowd loves to throw out the ballots of those who voted early but died before the polls closed.
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