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Today, as I wait in an enormous line for an off-year election, I figured it was as good a time as any to go through our ballot propositions. There’s a lot of boring stuff on there about bond issuance. But what feels more exotic are the constitutional amendments.
That’s right! We can reenact the California proposition experience right here in our own state. Join me on an adventure through Texas state politics.
Should we enshrine the right to various outdoors industries—fishing, timber, etc.—in the constitution? Why? Apparently, city growth has led to risk of over regulation. But this is already covered by statute. Putting it in the constitution is one of those overreaches that Scott makes fun of. Frustratingly, none of the comments I found online cared about bloat, instead choosing to fuss about factory farms. I expect it’ll pass, but I’m voting No.
Should we allow local governments to issue property tax exemptions for child care? This is supposed to be an anti-inflation measure, subsidizing one particular good. Seems like a roundabout way to do it.
Should we ban wealth and net worth taxes? Texas doesn’t have one, and it remains, as far as I know, wildly unpopular. Sounds like political hay to me. This time, opponents remembered that unnecessary amendments might be a bad thing.
Should we expand a tax exemption and also boostpubliceducationfunding? Burying the lede, are we? Actually, there’s a complicated relationship between this tax and the public school system. I get the impression of many precariously balanced plates…Regardless, supporters are pretty open about wanting property tax relief. Maybe I’m just biased as a non-home-owner, but it feels like treating a symptom rather than a disease.
Should we modify the state research fund? Supposedly this is about spreading the wealth to schools that aren’t UT or A&M. I guess I’m fine with that. Except, wait, it also ties that fund to revenue from the state rainy day fund? Is that really how we want to use that money? Is the constitution the way to do it?
Should we create a fund to manage water projects? This hasn’t been a problem up here in DFW, but maybe has caused trouble elsewhere in the state. Opponents correctly note that we already have a water department. Just fund that instead.
Should we authorize funding to modernize the electric grid? My first instinct is “please, God, yes, this should have happened years ago.” Which leads me to believe that something is horribly wrong with it. But no, it does what it says on the tin, authorizing investment in backup capacity and infrastructure. Maybe this is a place for free-market solutions…but those really dropped the ball in the last few years. Infrastructure is the central example for public goods. So let’s go for it.
Should we finance high speed broadband? In theory, I guess this is another form of infrastructure. But proponents keep dropping phrases like “digital divide” that make me wonder if it’s what the kids call FOMO. If we’re only funding it this way because some senator heard the phrase, maybe it shouldn’t go in the constitution. Still, the opposition consists of people worried it will detract from federal funding for broadband. That’s pretty weak as far as complaints go.
Should we boost teacher pensions? This is literally helicopter money, but for old people. It’ll probably pass. I ask myself how many yes voters feel the same way about federal social security.
Should we add some medical and biomedical tax exemptions? This sounds boring, but really centers around a broader effort to “regionalize manufacturing.” Texas likes to think it’s an island. In this case, we’re not really unique in trying to lure investment, so…okay, I guess.
Should we let the state let certain El Paso conservation districts let El Paso county issue bonds? I feel like I’m losing my grip on reality just reading this sentence. I don’t understand how this is a state issue.
Should we abolish the Galveston County treasurer? Screw that guy, I guess.
Should we raise the retirement age for judges? Something tells me there’s a particular guy behind this one. I don’t know who, but I don’t like it. Personally, I think 75 is already too high.
Should we create a Centennial Parks Conservation Fund? This is the one I didn’t have time to read before making it to the front of the line, much to my chagrin. Thus…No comment.
Edit: Apparently everything passed except for raising the judge retirement age. Sorry, Hon. Nathan Hecht. You’ll have to maintain your grip on our reproductive organs from the shadows.
In all seriousness, he seems like a competent judge, and I don’t actually have a personal distaste for him. When I saw the text of the amendment, I immediately thought “this must benefit one guy in particular,” and voted against making exceptions. I wonder how many other Texans had the same gut reaction.
Election night thread?
Reading accounts like this make me glad to live in a state that (1) mails everyone a ballot every election and (2) also mails everyone a voters guide a week or more in advance of any election. I get text of initiatives, statements for and against, candidate statements, all kinds of stuff delivered to my door well in advance of having to make a decision.
Election logistics aside, the actual elections were pretty boring. Bunch of state level judges (electing judges is dumb as hell) running unopposed. About half the local races also involved candidates running unopposed. The other half were against incumbents who'd been in the position a decade and would probably win in a landslide. No initiatives or ballot measures or anything interesting.
Looking outside my own state, Bolts has a massive round up of stuff to watch tonight. Big ones so far:
Andy Beshar wins re-election as governor of Kentucky.
Ohio passes Issue 1 and Issue 2. Enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution and legalizing marijuana respectively.
Dems projected to control Virginia Senate, denying Youngkin a trifecta.
Loudoun County School Board looks likely to be won by Democratic Party endorsed candidates.
I hate to beat a dead horse about this after 2020, but does vote coercion or payment worry you at all? It worries me. Having a secret ballot is one of the last bulwarks against the mob (or your spouse). It's better if mail-in ballots are rare, with individually justified (and verified) reasons.
A better alternative to over relying on mail-in voting is holding elections on Saturdays rather than weekdays, as well as allowing in-person pre-polling. Mobile voting stations at places like hospitals and retirement villages also help. Mail-in voting can still be an option for those who truly need it.
At least that’s how we handle elections in Australia. But we also have mandatory voting (which is a whole separate topic I won’t get into), so the government aims to make sure the only legit reasons for not voting are things such as misadventure or medical incapacity.
When you said "misadventure", I initially imagined a guy going "Sorry, your honor, I was on a severe bender that week and forgot to vote" and it being totally legit.
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I definitely recognize the potential, though I'm not sure how often that potential is realized. Both of the things you mention are crimes in my state, which is not to say they don't happen.
There are also well known tradeoffs with requiring people to vote in person. People might have to take time off work since voting is often on a work day and can involve a wait of hours. Poll workers or observers might do a little voter intimidation.
The balance of which of these is worse is at least not obvious to me.
Vote coercion isn't happening in any numbers big enough to swing an election today, but with woke purity spirals moving in the direction they are, I don't want to wait to fight for this until the harms are realized. It'd be like waiting until after the government confiscates all the guns to protest encroachments to the second amendment -- you're choosing to fight after you've lost a strategic advantage.
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There are quite a few states (and potentially smaller jurisdictions) that require employers to either allow reasonable employee absence to vote or, in many cases, provide paid time to do so.
I swear, the US is the weirdest country on Earth when it comes to voting.
Has no one considered having elections on a weekend?
At this point, Tuesday is a tradition that has been Federal law since the mid-1800s, although there are jurisdictions that choose to have local or state elections on other days: IIRC Louisiana votes on Sundays on odd years, and a few states have made it a civic holiday.
If that tradition is so important to you then make it a national holiday. Surely, if Juneteenth warrants one, you can spare a day for voting?
There's an awful lot of "holidays" that bankers or government employees take off that the rest of the American public does not. Checking my own calendar (as a federal contractor leech no less) our expected holidays are New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and then a week of days off crammed into the last week of the year to cover Christmas and typical end of year home-for-the-holidays time off. Expected and typicial but we can shift the time off/paid Holiday time to suit personal priorities if for example you find Labor Day morally abhorrent and wanted to celebrate Ayn Rands birthday instead. Aside from government workers (if you have children, arranging for them to be cared for comes up) I don't think I've ever seen something like MLK Day or Washingtons birthday (still the official federal name, everyone else calls it Presidents Day) as anything but advertising banners for some sort of sale, people still going to work like a normal day otherwise.
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Most people in the private sector don't actually get Juneteenth off here, even though it is a recently added public holiday so that could change over time.
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I wish!
Unfortunately, election holiday has become Democrat-coded, which means 40% of the population will oppose it on sight.
I exaggerate; it has bipartisan support. Still, it keeps failing despite significant popularity.
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Juneteenth was added because of political pressure, not because it's actually important.
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It just seems so obvious that VBM introduces so many problems I dont know why so many people support it (eg no chain of custody, return of machine politics). Is it just because Dems think it gives them an advantage?
I'm not a Democrat. I voted for Trump. I'm also disabled and likely would not have voted at all without VBM. My local board of elections also likes to move the polling places or reduce the number of locations if they think a lower turnout will produce better election outcomes and vice versa. After going to the normal polling place only to find it had been moved two weeks before the election once I'm not eager to do that again.
I think we're talking about universal vote-by-mail, not about need-based vote-by-mail (i.e., absentee voting) that you would undoubtedly qualify for.
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I think more people voting is a significant social good, and that the security concerns are overblown. If VBM was a significant threat to integrity, I would have expected the contested, chaotic 2020 elections to have turned up more fraud.
Plus, I would personally benefit if the time it took me to vote was reduced. I was in line for quite a while!
Why is more people voting good?
Voting is the safety valve of government. Most of the benefits of democracy come not from better decision making (ha!) or accountability, but from cultivating a sense of skin in the game.
Whether or not this is a real effect, I won’t speculate. The important part is that people feel like there is a normal process for their team to get power. This raises the threshold for any group to decide nope, now is the time for monsters.
I prefer the civic ritual of punching your ballot and getting the all-important “I voted” sticker, but engaging with the government by mail-in voting is better than nothing.
Given what I saw in the last US election, I'm not too keen on letting the average low-info, TV-enraged person have the process of voting greased up for them any further. It's an imperfect process, but I would afford a minimum of respect to people who at least took the time to leave their home, get in line, and sacrifice a few hours of their lives for democracy. Those who are not physically able can make a similar gesture to request their own mail-in ballots. I would say this miniscule effort demonstrates and engenders more skin in the game than automatically sending every Joe and Jane a ballot just waiting to be filled out after a CNN story on a candidate gives them a frowny. It's not evident to me why their input - lazy as it is - should be given any due by default, or further enabled. I can't think of anything positive or constructive they contribute to the process, but certainly a few negatives.
Democracy has always suffered from the dilemma of "what if the idiots vote the wrong way", but maybe we can stave off the worst of it by putting up these bare minimum of barriers? Like, I see a future where people can vote for their presidents via their X accounts or a similar platform. I'm sure that would be amazing for generating 'skin in the game', and also be utterly horrible precisely because said skin doesn't exist. You laugh at a GIF of Biden falling down AF1's steps, then punch the button for Trump without getting off your couch. I would like to stall that as long as possible.
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It makes it easier for people to vote. In quite a few places this is the reason Republicans supported it (see PA), as rural voters can sometimes have to travel long distances to vote, and rural voters skew Republican so making it easier for them to vote might be advantageous.
That's why Republicans expanded mail in voting in PA prior to the 2020 election. It got more votes against it from Democrats than Republicans in the State legislature. Then the same Republicans who voted for it then tried to have it declared unconstitutional a year later after the 2020 election.
Prior to that election it was a much less partisan idea, and was common in a few states that weren't huge Democrat strongholds.
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Unlikely, given this press release from the PA GOP a while back
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Not sure what you mean by no chain of custody. My state at least has several measures.
On the ballot itself is a stub your're meant to tear off that identifies that specific ballot. That stub has what's basically a serial number on it you can take to the state election website to figure out if the particular ballot you cast has been counted.
As to the ballot itself, it's placed in a security envelope one is required to sign and date. I know signature matching isn't an exact science but I know there are at least some checks. One year I forgot to sign and got some helpful mail from the state informing me of that fact and outlining the process to cure the deficiency.
It is very convenient and enables people to vote who may otherwise have difficulty doing so.
You don’t know who had the ballot prior to it arriving at the voting station (assuming the ballot ever arrives)!
Do you mean after filling out a VBM ballot before it's been counted? It goes into a county-maintained ballot box. Or I could hand it off directly to a county elections official if I wanted to go out of my way (I think the closest place to do that is out of walking distance). I guess in rural areas, getting to a ballot box might be not worth the effort, so it would go to the mailman instead, so not in the hands of an election official. But that's why there's a notification when your ballot is received; then you can submit it sufficiently ahead of time to try again in the unlikely event it failed to reach the elections office.
No, the principal worry is that someone will coerce you to vote their way. Like, if you're an adult child living with your trad family or a senior citizen living with your woke family, you can be forced/pressured/manipulated to sign the envelope with the ballot someone else has filled in.
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