Loose Ends: Midterm ballot amendments confusing at best
Don’t know about you, but I’m ready to scream if I see one more TV commercial on the 12 amendments we’re voting on this midterm election. Adding insult to injury, my mailbox has been filled daily with high-color glossy ads issuing life or death warnings on the impact of my vote.
Heck, like most of you, I’m not even sure what I’m voting for, thanks to the way the amendments are written. We can thank the Florida Legislature, the Constitutional Revision Commission and their team of legal eagles for that.
I think these things are craftily designed to confuse or make it so difficult to understand that we simply throw up our hands and skip the amendments altogether or vote “no” on everything just to get out of the voting booth.
We should always think carefully about making constitutional changes, but sometimes they’re needed when the legislature fails to heed the will of its constituents.
I’m not advocating one way or the other, folks. I wouldn’t presume to tell anyone how to vote. There are some important issues on the ballot, and they deserve careful consideration. But, my Lord, could they be written in plain English?
I’ve seen so many articles lately thoughtfully attempting to explain what we’re voting on. It’s sad when we need to be told what a yes or no vote means so we can be sure a “yes” means yes or a “no” means no.
All we can do, people, is exercise due diligence.
I found a couple of websites you can visit that do a pretty good job of explaining what the amendments are, what a yea or nay means for each and who is supporting and opposing them. They are the Florida League of Cities, https://bit.ly/2zJicat and the League of Women Voters of Florida’s Be Ready to Vote guide, https://bit.ly/2PwKhHr.
You can also go online and search for guides and recommendations printed by large newspapers throughout the state.
Ultimately, all we can do is make our best effort to understand what we’re voting for and VOTE. Every eligible person should have a say in issues that matter to them and the quality of life in this state. By exercising that right, win or lose, we know we played a role in the democratic process, and that’s a privilege many folks around the world don’t have.
Lois Kindle is a freelance writer and columnist for The Observer News. Contact her at lois@observernews.net.