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Stinky The Clown

(67,808 posts)
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 12:28 PM Nov 2012

Are ballot questions "voter suppressive"?

They're discussing this on the teevee right now. Doesn't matter where.

The issue is lengthy and complicated ballots. They held up a copy of the Florida ballot and it is a small book. Here in Maryland, there are 7 questions on the ballot plus local questions in some jurisdictions. I heard someone decrying the "metastasization" of ballot questions in California.

The questions are often long and complicated to read. They're even worse when they're written with the expressed intent to confuse, where voting "yes" is actually a "no" vote and vice versa.

Mostly, too many questions means very long lines at the polls.

Are ballot questions "suppressive"?


4 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
Yes, ballot questions can be suppressive
2 (50%)
No, ballot questions are pure democracy in action
2 (50%)
Other, please comment.
0 (0%)
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Are ballot questions "voter suppressive"? (Original Post) Stinky The Clown Nov 2012 OP
in Duval (Jax, FL) the ballot is 4 pages long and 17 inches long NightWatcher Nov 2012 #1
My own observation . . . . no basis in science: rich suburbs and rural areas have more . . . . Stinky The Clown Nov 2012 #2
It's true... Kalidurga Nov 2012 #3
Not really. What a lot of voters do is vote the first MineralMan Nov 2012 #4

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)
1. in Duval (Jax, FL) the ballot is 4 pages long and 17 inches long
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 12:36 PM
Nov 2012

If you wait till the last minute to research the ballot amendments it might take you longer than the 5 minute maximum to vote, but the DEMS have been good at getting the message out that we should vote NO on all amendments and YES for all judges.

What I notices when I early voted was that most people didnt spend too long in the polls reading and thinking and voting. Most people moved pretty briskly.

The thing that I dont get about the long waits and long ballots and other things to get people to not vote would affect the repuke voters just as much as dem voters. Who is more motivated to wait in a long line? I think the long lines on Election Day might send just as many repukes home without voting.

Stinky The Clown

(67,808 posts)
2. My own observation . . . . no basis in science: rich suburbs and rural areas have more . . . .
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 12:43 PM
Nov 2012

. . . . . voting booths per capita than do inner city/urban polling places.

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
3. It's true...
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:14 PM
Nov 2012

I have lived in the city and I have lived in the suburbs. I never have to wait in a long line in the suburbs.

MineralMan

(146,317 posts)
4. Not really. What a lot of voters do is vote the first
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:24 PM
Nov 2012

page of the ballot, and then stop. They skip the 25 judicial elections, all the local board elections, and definitely skip the ballot questions. People have been doing that since ballot questions first appeared. All the important stuff is on the first page for these voters, and that's as far as they go.

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