Florida

[Alan_Smithee]

@Leaffan

How many did the dog catcher get?

You think that’s a joke, but I’ve voted for members of the mosquito control board.

[Alley_Dweller]

@Alan_Smithee

You think that’s a joke, but I’ve voted for members of the mosquito control board.

The dog catcher on the ballot is usually referred to as something like “animal control director.” But electing the mosquito control board certainly tops that.

[NDP]

@This_Just_In_2

I miss voting in Canada. In and out in 1 minute.

After I moved to the US I was astounded by the size of the ballot. Fortunately, I live in Oregon where we do mail in balloting. But it is long. You vote on the Prez, Senator, House, Gov, Secretary of State, State senators and house, several other State level positions including members of various boards like local water boards, sheriffs. Mayors and City council. Judges for the state as well. There can literally be 30-40 positions you’re voting on. It is difficult to truly know who represents your views.

Then the measures. Some are slam dunks like “Should we correct spelling mistakes in the state Constitution”. But some seem pretty obscure - “Should we allow use of Gill nets in the Columbia river”, “Should we allow a casino to be built”. Others are more of a direct impact “Should we raise taxes for schools/libraries/etc”.

Still seems over the top to me. First you elect a huge multitude of people directly to their position, but then you can’t trust them to decide anything themselves.

Washington state also has mail-in ballots. We get them three weeks before Election Day and have the choice of either mailing them or–if you want to save postage–dropping them in a ballot box. I think this would be a better option for Florida. Granted, you’d probably have the GOP screaming “OMG! VOTER FRAUD!” but it would beat having to wait up to seven hours to cast your vote.

[Steve_MB]

Florida Governor Rick Scott Orders Voting Process Review

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida on Saturday said he requested a review of his state’s voting processes with a particular emphasis on areas where voters waited four hours or longer to cast their ballots.
“We are glad that so many voters made their voices heard in this election, but as we go forward we must see improvements in our election process,” Scott said in a statement. “I have asked Secretary of State Ken Detzner to review this general election and report on ways we can improve the process after all the races are certified.”…

He needs a report to find the source of the problems? Don’t they have any mirrors in the Florida Executive Mansion, or does Governor Gollum not cast a reflection?

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Foxy40

I really blame a lot of the problems and delays on the actual voters. Each registered voter was mailed a sample ballot. If you didn’t get one, you could find it in multiple places on the internet. My son and I stood in line with our samples all filled out and ready to be copied to the official ballot. Few people had done this. SO as ladyfoxfyre said, people had to read and decide on 11 long amendments of which it was for many, the first time they have ever see them. What we wondered at the time is why didn’t the officials go up and down the line with the samples so people could be better prepared when they walked in to the polling place. It would have made a huge difference.

I have a degree in political science and I’m two thirds of the way through a law degree, and it would have taken me hours to decipher just the 11 statewide ballot propositions without reference to other sources.

[QUOTE=jtgain]
I understand and would vote “yes” for state funding of religious schools (so long as there is no discrimination between religions)…
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, good luck with that last part.

[QUOTE=elbows]
I say it’s time to institute a deadline on Florida. Get your results in, by such and such time/day, or we don’t count any of them!
[/QUOTE]

There is a deadline: the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, when the Electoral College meets. We also have a deadline under state law for counties to report their totals to the Secretary of State, but that one doesn’t work very well, as we have seen.

[BrainGlutton]

@Alley_Dweller

The dog catcher on the ballot is usually referred to as something like “animal control director.” But electing the mosquito control board certainly tops that.

They’re elected because they get to tax you. There are all kinds of “special-district governments” with taxing authority these days, especially in Florida. (You won’t notice – the tax will take the form of a line on your county property-tax bill and won’t amount to much in the total.)

[Evil_Captor]

Well as long as Florida voters keep electing Republicans they will have these kinds of shenanigans, because that’s what Republicans DO nowadays.

[YogSothoth]

@Steve_MB

He needs a report to find the source of the problems? Don’t they have any mirrors in the Florida Executive Mansion, or does Governor Gollum not cast a reflection?

No, he’s actually looking for reasons why Obama won and how to fix those “problems”

[drew870mitchell]

Part of it is that the Obama reelection depended on maintained high turnout from districts which had never turned out to vote before 2008. I would understand if there is some lag in the response of adding more polling places and booths to precincts which have had historically depressed turnout.

[bobot]

I hear Florida is going to have essay questions on the next ballot. “Describe Your Own Constitutional Amendment” 500 words minimum.
(…drumroll…rimshot.)

[bengangmo]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

Yeah, good luck with that last part.

.

I know you’re being scarcastic, but its really not that difficult.

Where I’m from, every school that meets the minimum state standard for student care and curriculum gets $XX per student.

What they want to do or impose on top of that is up to them.

[JoelUpchurch]

As far as I can tell the vote got counted as rapidly in Florida as in other states, But what do you do if 99% of the votes are counted and it is still too close to call? I live in Orange county and a sample ballot is mailed out to all voters before election day. The constitutional amendments take awhile to figure out, but waiting until you get into the voting booth on election day to read it is moronic. I voted by mail this year, but before I would fill out the sample ballot and take it to the voting booth with me.

[Zakalwe]

@bengangmo

I know you’re being scarcastic, but its really not that difficult.

Where I’m from, every school that meets the minimum state standard for student care and curriculum gets $XX per student.

What they want to do or impose on top of that is up to them.

And we actually have that same system in place for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. Many of the VPK schools around here are associated with churches. They get funded just like the others.

The purpose of the Amendment (as I understand it) is that it would have been a step towards a voucher system whereby money slated for the public schools would have been shifted to private (often church-based) schools.