May 19 2009
Today is the special election!
Today is the special election.
Predictions are that not many people will vote. In fact, some areas don’t even have polling stations and are making people vote by absentee ballot. Why are people not voting? Generally people don’t vote because they don’t think their vote matters. This decision is often made based on polling data that “tells” people who look at the polls, what the predicted outcome of the election will be.
In California, people also don’t vote because they are tired of voting every few months, or because they are tired of being asked to do what the Governor and Legislature should be doing.
This special election asks voters to approve various ballot measures that would “fix” the problems with the 2009-10 budget - which is now estimated to have a $20+ billion dollar hole if the ballot measures don’t pass, and a $15+ billion hole if they do pass. So regardless of votes, the budget is still unbalanced. It is easy to see why California voters think that the special election doesn’t matter, and so they won’t vote.
However, consider this: You still have the opportunity to vote. You can send a message with your vote, instead of letting others do it for you. A message from 1 million people is less effective than a message from 13 million people. If everyone in California went to the ballot box and voted no, imagine the message that would send. If these ballot measures are defeated soundly, that sends a message to the Governor and Legislature: Stop your tricks and do your work.
Knowing that there is a huge budget deficit hasn’t prevented legislators from passing bills that require money, and from passing some bills that would be considered “mandates” and require the state to backfill the funds to the locals later. It is good to know that even in tough times the Legisature can pass bills that make the budget even more unbalanced by requiring more spending.
Hopefully, the election results will be done by 11 o’clock tonight.
