I love elections... *gags*

[rivendellrose]

Trying to fill out my absentee ballot, this evening. The process has been quite interesting, so I thought I'd share some highlights.


Step one: Read descriptions of all initiatives. Get very nervous and confused, decide to do the rest, then research and come back to those later.

Step two: Vote for Kerry/Edwards, and then scan down to wonder why the fuck Nader is trying AGAIN and hope he doesn't steal too many votes.

Step three: Contentedly vote the party line down til Commissioner of Public Lands, then start Googling names to find their campaign sites or newspaper articles or what-have-you, desperate for some sort of insight. Same with Superintendent of Public Instruction. Back to former system on Insurance Commissioner.

Step four: In which university loyalty becomes a factor. Arrive at Justice position #6. Richard B. Sanders graduated from the UW school of law (a point in his favour, to my mind), has the backing of the state bar association, and looks good. Unfortunately, he's backed by the Republican party, which makes me nervous. I look at his opponent, Terry Sebring... He was a WSU graduate. Not only from the eastern side of the state, which is scary, but... our competitor-school. I scan the rest, see that he has nothing else in his bio of interest to me, and vote Sanders.

And, a note to you Seattle folks.... HELP!!! I can't think my way out of all these stupid initiatives, and the online research is making things clear as mud. Any wisdom to offer?

Comments

[becksbooks.livejournal.com]

I'd go Bergeson on SPI (although both candidates are pretty darned good) the reason is that Billings wants to back away from the WASL, and - while I hate the damned thing - we're coming up on the first class that will need to pass it to graduate, and i think switching streams now is a bad idea. PLus it was her idea in the first place.

On initiatives...vote no on Eyman (as a matter of principle) and I also voted against the sales tax increase (884, i think it was) because I don't feel that it'll do any good. And PLEASE DEAR GOD VOTE NO ON R-55 (CHARTER SCHOOLS). Charter schools are a bad bad bad thing.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah.... that whole "qualified non-profit organizations" thing makes me kind of go "ACK! No public money to religious schools!!!!"

Hmmm, see I got the impression that Billings was looking to add other requirements, not take away the WASL. In which case I'm with her... huh.

Which one is the Eyman? I see a bunch of stuff that has his trademark "where's the money coming from?" problem, but I can't actually tell which one was his.....

[ursula]

Eyman has the slot machines and the local Seattle (or is it King County?) initiative about changing the number of council officials.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

*Rolls eyes* Yeah, I'd already gone against the slot machines thing on general principle. It just seemed dumb. Which makes sense, since its author is a moron.

[sablebadger.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the Charter schools.

Eyeman can go fuck himself.

The rest I have no idea.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Eyman, for the sake of the state, needs to be deported to Idaho.

[ursula]

Read the endorsements in your voter's pamphlet. Vote against anything proposed or endorsed by Tim Eyman. Vote for things proposed or endorsed by the Sierra Club. Vote against judges who say they "don't believe in judicial activism," since that's code for "don't believe that the Constitution supports those damn liberals."

In particular, you want to vote no on the monorail initiative-- voters have already approved the initiative several times over, and this is just a last-ditch attempt by a small group of property owners to get it turned around-- and you should also vote against substituting slot-machine revenue for property tax revenue. The schools initiative is hard: Washington doesn't exactly need a higher sales tax, but we do need to fund our schools properly. I voted yes on more money for schools.

And I voted against the incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction, because she seems to have difficulty recognizing that public schools in Washington have problems.

I could go on for a while-- feel free to message or e-mail me if you want to discuss things :)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

*Grumbles* Sadly, my voter's pamphlet either got misplaced or never arrived properly, so I'm kind of stuck with the internet as my only resource... and we all know how reliable that is.

[ursula]

Why, perhaps you want this website:

http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/guide/

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[ladysonnet.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Tim Eyman - do NOT vote for Jim Johnson for Judge! He is Eyman's lawyer! He will rubber stamp everything Eyman wants!

B

[sablebadger.livejournal.com]

ooh, good catch!

[ladysonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and vote for Cooper (I think that's his name, I really should check) for Public Lands commissioner... he's not getting kickbacks from logging companies...

And if you want to know who The Washington State Democrats have endorsed, you can get to the list from here http://www.wa-democrats.org/site/index.php

Hope this helps!

B

[ladysonnet.livejournal.com]

To save you time, here is who they endorse:

Governor: Christine Gregoire
Lieutenant Governor: Brad Owen
Secretary of State: Laura Ruderman
State Treasurer: Michael Murphy
State Auditor: Brian Sonntag
State Attorney General: Deborah Senn
Commissioner of Public Lands: Mike Cooper
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Terry Bergeson
Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler


State Supreme Court Pos. 1: Mary Kay Becker
State Supreme Court Pos. 6: Terry Sebring


YES on Iniative 297 (regulating hazardous waste)
NO on Initiative 872 (limiting voter’s choices)
YES on Intiative 884 (creating an education fund)
NO on Initiative 892 (extending gambling)
NO on Referendum 55 (charter schools)

[zhapper.livejournal.com]

I would follow the stranger's voting guide.

http://www.thestranger.com/specials/Election_Cheat_Sheet_2004.pdf

I pretty much endorse all their choices.

Chris

[erynn-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

My mom is CPF (close personal friends) ;) with Terry Bergeson (well, they KNOW each other, at least...) and thinks she is very nice and very qualified.