Vote!

[Gardenarian]

We have some interesting propositions on the ballot here in California.
The hard part is all these lesser positions that I don't know anything about (voting on harbor masters, judges, school commissioners.) It really takes some research.

I'll be casting my ballot after work today - it's 4 pages long.

[Alan]

I'll be stopping by my polling place later this afternoon as well. We've had early voting availability for over a month now but I'm old fashioned, I go to the polls on election day.

[Packy]

l'll let you know something verrrry interesting. One of the tricks the gov'mint empire-builders do is take some tax increases, and sneak them onto the ballot in an off-year election. Even the tax levies that lost by a landslide during a high-turnout election more than once--they still cannot take "no" for an answer. Then on election day, they send all their fellow gov'ment employees, friends, relatives and other interested parties in, and it passes, even though only a relative few turned out. See? Also, I know of someone with whom I disagree with about everything so far, who is an outspoken opponent of objective criteria for employing school teachers--performance tests. So, I guess for that reason, I will have to head to the polls to vote in favor of it, just to cancel out their "no" vote. Not trying to be spiteful; it is just that they usually are wrong, anyway, and I am doing my civic duty.

[Teacher Terry]

I love to early vote because it is so quick & easy. No lines to wait in.

[Gregg]

I love going to the polls because they have fresh baked cookies.

[Gardenarian]

This is very likely the last time I'll be casting a ballot in person - we're moving to Oregon and it's all vote-by-mail up there. Kind of the end of an era.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Vote by mail is probably far more practical for anyone's actual time-crunched life.

[kib]

I like voting by mail because when I go in person, I usually find I've forgotten an issue or position I wanted to look into, when I have the ballot in hand at home that doesn't happen.

[Packy]

I love going to the polls because they have fresh baked cookies. An incentive to get EVERYONE to Vote--which is not really a good thing---would be to serve piping hot pizza--pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, piled high with ooooey-goooey mozzzzarellly cheeeese to every voter. Trouble is, they'd get the ballots all greasy, and it would gum up the machines. Thank Me.

[ApatheticNoMore]

As long as there's a vegetarian pizza for the vegetarian voters.

[Tradd]

I did early voting for the first time Saturday. I'll definitely do that again.

And I'm delighted to report that Illinois has kicked Quinn to the curb.

[Packy]

Well, it's seems that like, Oregon has like, gone up in smoke, man! Weed, bud, whatever--will be, like-- legal. But, how did proponents(big word there, man) of the measure ever get motivated enough to get out the vote? Like, this is sure good news for Frito-Lay, you know?

[Miss Cellane]

I like voting by mail because when I go in person, I usually find I've forgotten an issue or position I wanted to look into, when I have the ballot in hand at home that doesn't happen.

My city posts the ballot online weeks ahead of the election. I spent a good part of one October weekend researching the candidates and deciding who to vote for. In some ways, I think it's more important to vote for the small local offices, like county treasurer and sheriff, because those people will make decisions that impact your life on a day to day basis.

Compared to the presidential election two years ago, the polls seemed nearly empty last night after work. Two years ago, the line was out the door for a couple hundred feet. This year, the line was very short. But the poll workers said that there had been a steady stream of voters pretty much all day. And things were definitely picking up--the line was a lot longer when I left.

There are some preliminary reports that we had a record mid-term voter turnout in New Hampshire, but I haven't seen anything definite yet.

[Gregg]

Well, it's seems that like, Oregon has like, gone up in smoke, man! Weed, bud, whatever--will be, like-- legal. But, how did proponents(big word there, man) of the measure ever get motivated enough to get out the vote? Like, this is sure good news for Frito-Lay.

Oregon legalized weed? Shocking. They just made it official so the transactions could move in off the sidewalk when its raining.

[Gardenarian]

Oregon legalized weed? Shocking. They just made it official so the transactions could move in off the sidewalk when its raining.

They made it legal so they could tax what is being sold anyhow.

[KayLR]

Oregon legalized weed? Shocking. They just made it official so the transactions could move in off the sidewalk when its raining.

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1447&d=1415216071

[Gregg]

LOL!

[gimmethesimplelife]

I lived five and a half years in Portland in the early to mid 90's and I'm not at all surprised weed is now legal in Oregon. I feel both pro and con on this one.....but I also admire Oregon (and Washington and Colorado even more) for being early adopters with this issue and it will be interesting to see how this turns out and if it spreads to more states. I'm 50/50 on marijuana legalization but if it could be proven to me that by legalizing it cartels in Mexico would lose some power I'd be more 90/10 for it.

Arizona - no great surprise here - went very conservative and almost all Republican including the governor's seat which went to Doug Ducey. OTOH as I have often said, Arizona is endlessly interesting as it will go liberal on you out of nowhere and when you least expect it - Proposition 480 passed, which was a property tax increase in Maricopa Country to modernize and update and increase the services of Maricopa Intergrated Health System - where I now get my health care via Medicaid.....a redone hospital, several new stand alone health clinics, expanded mental health outreach especially for the homeless, etc. I honestly believed there was no way this was going to pass but it did and by a decent margin.....So this has been a banner year for Arizona as far as I am concerned - same sex marriage legal as of 10/17 and Medicaid expanded, the latter of which has impacted so many of my friends and neighbors and is a really huge deal to me. Now that my issues have been addressed, I'm of the mind to graciously let conservatives have the power and sit back and see what they do with it.....Who knows, maybe Ducey will be good for the state? Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1447&d=1415216071Wow, such memories! The tallest building in the photo there, in downtown Portland? I once temped at a legal firm on one of the upper floors of this building as an office clerk. Really good views from the offices on that floor! Rob

[iris lilies]

I did early voting for the first time Saturday. I'll definitely do that again.

And I'm delighted to report that Illinois has kicked Quinn to the curb.
Congrats to IL on that move. Now, let's just keep this Republican Governor out of prison.

[Tradd]

Some folks were joking on the radio this morning that Quinn didn't want to concede because he didn't know what to do after. As in, the most recent IL governors ended up in prison, so there was no "after" being a governor. ;)

[Tiam]

I'll be stopping by my polling place later this afternoon as well. We've had early voting availability for over a month now but I'm old fashioned, I go to the polls on election day.

I sure love the mail/drop off ballots here in Oregon