I Hate Ballot Propositions

 

I live in one of those states where almost anyone, with a little effort, can put almost any question to the voters to get a yes or no answer to a proposed change in the law. This time around there are 12 such measures here dealing with everything from digital privacy to allowing felons to vote, and from rent control to dialysis clinics.

Propositions, in the broadest sense, have the goal of doing what state legislators could not or would not do, or simply injecting fairness into an unfair situation. Most sound good, but they can be confusing, and the voter has to be careful. Many start with what seems like a worthy cause, but if you dig in a little bit, you find that the fine print includes zingers that protect certain institutions from being included or change the law in a not-so-good way. Yes can sometimes mean no, and vice versa. More often than not, a proposition is on the ballot to “fix” an unintended consequence of another ballot  measure that was approved five or 10 years ago or more. And finally, you have to read about who the major supporters and campaign funders of a measure are, and you say to yourself, yeah, no wonder they wanted THAT done.

This year, it hurts a little, because many of us are in a hurry to return our ballot or vote early where it’s permitted, but all those down-ballot items take time, and woe betide you if you’re voting in person and are stuck in line behind someone who hasn’t decided ahead of time how they’re going to vote on all that stuff. If you don’t vote on these things, you are leaving possible life-changing decisions up to others. An approved proposition may someday come back to bite you in a place you weren’t expecting. The sensible ones can lose and the crazy ones might win, or they may be challenged in court.

To be fair, there are positives about propositions. Sometimes a state legislature and the executive branch are dominated by the wrong party or people. A legislature can pass crazy laws under the radar, and with propositions, at least there is usually healthy debate about an issue, so we get educated. Even so, we have to put up with all the TV ads, and the better-funded side in a proposition campaign usually has more of them.

Maybe my real problem is, I’m just tired of all the extra noise that propositions add. I just want to tell all the ballot measure partisans, hey everyone, I know you mean well, but can’t we deal with all this a little later? In this election, I’ve got other fish to fry, like maybe the future of the republic.