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It was 5 ballot sheets front and back in the most recent election in my part of California. It’s actually irritating. Most ballot measures shouldn’t be ballot

by SllX 4y ago

It was 5 ballot sheets front and back in the most recent election in my part of California. It’s actually irritating. Most ballot measures shouldn’t be ballot measures. Pretty much anything that’s a constitutional amendment shouldn’t even be on the ballot, and the more elected officials there are, the less pressure there is on the more abjectly political parts of government to do a good job (legislatures, Governors/Mayors). We’re up to electing State Supreme Court justices now, and well, you can’t be held accountable for your judicial picks if you’re not the mook that put them in office, now can you? As much as I enjoy having a month or so to fill out my ballot at my leisure, I’m beginning to see a downside to that combined with voting machines, namely in that it allows the ballot to basically grow endlessly over time. The point of elected officials is these are the mooks hired to do the job of making laws, appointing their cabinet members, filling vacancies in the Courts and, prosecutors offices and law enforcement, and running the business of government in a politically accountable fashion so that we don’t have to.

qwytw 4y ago
> Pretty much anything that’s a constitutional amendment shouldn’t even be on the ballot, and the more elected officials there are Do you believe those should be on different ballots or do you just oppose the concept of referendum in general?
- joe-collins 4y ago
  I appreciate the existence of referendum. California allows for initiated constitutional amendments to pass with only a simply majority, and those amendments can appear on the ballot after gathering a relatively small number of signatures. The signature requirement weeds out a majority of initiatives, whether amendment or statute, but the quality of the remainder makes me wish it were more stringent. I dislike that California's process for citizen initiatives is quite so open as it is. For example, 2022's Prop 29 was a third run of a measure that also failed to pass on each of the preceding two ballots, with 59%+ of voters opposed each time. The topic is sufficiently narrow, and would benefit from expert input, that I don't feel it belongs on a ballot at all. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_29,_Dialysis_Clinic_Requirements_Initiative_(2022) https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_29,_Dialysis_... I question, as well, the inability of the state legislature to amend or repeal anything initiated by citizens without sending it back out onto the ballot.
- SllX 4y ago
  At this point? I pretty much oppose them wholesale after voting on them for my entire adult life. If the legislature isn't representative enough, it should be expanded, but ballot propositions give the legislature an out from being accountable for policies they support ("the voters have spoken!") whether it passes or fails when it is their job to advocate for and build a coalition and run on those very issues; and it invites every nutjob to try and pass their own agenda. Tax increases are also locked behind ballot initiatives when complete budgetary authority should be vested in a legislature. I would support one more additional referendum though: a ratification for a new California Constitution that wipes the slate clean on the old one.

by SllX 4y ago

qwytw 4y ago

> Pretty much anything that’s a constitutional amendment shouldn’t even be on the ballot, and the more elected officials there are Do you believe those should be on different ballots or do you just oppose the concept of referendum in general?

joe-collins 4y ago
I appreciate the existence of referendum. California allows for initiated constitutional amendments to pass with only a simply majority, and those amendments can appear on the ballot after gathering a relatively small number of signatures. The signature requirement weeds out a majority of initiatives, whether amendment or statute, but the quality of the remainder makes me wish it were more stringent. I dislike that California's process for citizen initiatives is quite so open as it is. For example, 2022's Prop 29 was a third run of a measure that also failed to pass on each of the preceding two ballots, with 59%+ of voters opposed each time. The topic is sufficiently narrow, and would benefit from expert input, that I don't feel it belongs on a ballot at all. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_29,_Dialysis_Clinic_Requirements_Initiative_(2022) https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_29,_Dialysis_... I question, as well, the inability of the state legislature to amend or repeal anything initiated by citizens without sending it back out onto the ballot.
SllX 4y ago
At this point? I pretty much oppose them wholesale after voting on them for my entire adult life. If the legislature isn't representative enough, it should be expanded, but ballot propositions give the legislature an out from being accountable for policies they support ("the voters have spoken!") whether it passes or fails when it is their job to advocate for and build a coalition and run on those very issues; and it invites every nutjob to try and pass their own agenda. Tax increases are also locked behind ballot initiatives when complete budgetary authority should be vested in a legislature. I would support one more additional referendum though: a ratification for a new California Constitution that wipes the slate clean on the old one.