In California, pizza and wine help the epic ballot go down: ‘It’s too darn long’
From condoms in porn to recreational cannabis, Californians face the longest-ever guide to this years election. Can a ballot party get them in the mood?
They gathered in the light-filled apartment, armed with the tools of 21st century democracy: smartphones, laptops, wine, pizza and a small bowl of Halloween candy.
Before the night was over, the seven San Franciscans would need them all. Because they hoped to accomplish together what none could imagine doing alone wading through the massive state and city ballots and the record-breaking 2016 voter guides that accompany them.
Joey Nuez picks up theSan Francisco voter guide and ruffles its 316 pages. The Sunday afternoon ballot party is at his place, and the 29-year-old clinical laboratory scientist rigged the television so votersedge.org (strapline: Get the facts before you vote) flashes on the big, flat screen.
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This is so daunting, Nuez says as the party gets going. And it doesnt even look like fun.
Pity the poor California voter, who faces 17 state ballot measures on 8 November.
Covering topics that include whether to repeal the death penalty or speed it up whether to legalize recreational pot, and whether to charge smokers $2 more in taxes per pack of cigarettes, the measures are explained in the largest state voter guide ever published, a 224-page behemoth.
While youre at it, save some sympathy for voters in San Francisco, a city where democracy is nothing short of bloodsport. Elected officials cannot seem to handle big problems like homelessness or little ones like who should prune the trees.
Their default is to make voters do the heavy lifting themselves. Hence 25 local measures to consider and a ballot so bulky the citys department of elections filmed a video to teach people how to fold it properly to keep the vote-counting machines running smoothly.
The grand total for San Franciscans to master by election day: 42 ballot measures, dissected in 540 pages of the two voter guides. After all that, who has time to pick a president?
The burden for the agencies that shepherd those voter guides the California secretary of states office and the city elections department is a staggering use of resources: 11.4m voter pamphlets, consisting of 2.59bn pages and costing around $16m to print and mail.
But at least Californians arent burdened with the kind of laws that suppress voting in other areas, regulations that require photo ID, say, or prohibit early voting. Right?
Not so fast, says Kim Alexander, founder and president of the California Voter Foundation. In the Golden State we have our own unique barriers to voting.
Its an important but complicated job to be a California voter, she said, which is why I write a song.
Yes, a song. Ever since the 2000 election, Alexander has written and performed a new version of the California Proposition Song to help explain the voluminous state ballot to overwhelmed voters. This years takes a good five minutes or so of listening time, but the investment is well worth it.
The chorus explains it all: Its the Proposition Song! You should all be singing along! Cuz the ballot is too darn long!