Tuesday, October 21, 2008

More than just the president

A lot of people are excited about the presidential election. But they are just the beginning of the choices for election day. There are elections for positions in Congress, state houses (the local version of congress), city/town/township councils, and if you live in a state like mine, amendments to the constitution and referendums.

I've been slowly education myself on the amendments (14!) and referendums (4) that will be on my ballot this November. When combined with all of the other stuff I'm looking at more than 20 choices when I enter the booth. Our topics included reducing tax incentives for certain industries, to working on the challenges previous amendments laid out,* to changing our organized labor structures.

These issues aren't getting as much play in the media as the top of the ticket does, but the impacts are just as serious. Your local and state laws dictate much more of the day to day activities and services you are able to access. So as time winds down (14 (or fewer) days left!) take a few minutes to read over all of the down ticket items for an informed vote.

For those of you who can vote early- happy voting. I'll probably be voting next Tuesday. I'm going to take advantage of the flight time to read our state booklet on the issues and make my big decisions.

*We have 1 amendment that limits the amount of taxes the state is allowed to hold on to and another that mandates an increase of inflation+1% for one of the largest spenders in the state.

1 comment:

Arachne said...

Good Advice!

I don't know if all the voting offices do it, but our County mails out a sample ballot about 3 weeks beforehand that lets us take a look at everything we would(possibly) be voting for on the ballot. Very useful and worth taking a look at!