A friend forwards me the ballot question recommendations of the women of Democracy in Action in Rapid City. It turns out that, as with NARAL Pro-Choice SD, I’m right in line with my Rapid City friends on how to vote on these ten initiatives and referenda:
|
Title |
DIA Recommendations |
|
Constitutional Amendment R Technical Schools’ Governance |
YES – empowers the legislature to determine who governs state-supported postsecondary technical education institutes. |
|
Constitutional Amendment S Victims’ Rights |
NO – maintains our current system where judges and prosecutors try to balance the rights of victims, the rights of the accused, and the interests of the community. Newly installed Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) system offers a free improved service to victims about offenders, arrest warrants issued, and hearing results. |
|
Constitutional Amendment T Nonpolitical Redistricting |
YES – establishes an independent politically balanced Redistricting Commission, removing legislators from the redistricting process. |
| Constitutional Amendment U
Loan Interest Rates |
NO – does not cap interest on loans (such as payday), allowing lenders to take advantage of borrowers. The 18% advisory cap is waived by borrower with a required signature, allowing predatory lending to continue. A NO vote ends debt traps (see YES recommendation on Initiated Measure 21). |
|
Constitutional Amendment V Nonpartisan Elections |
YES – establishes a nonpartisan primary and general election ballot without party labels on which all voters, registered with a party or not, may vote. Top two vote-getters move to general election. |
|
Initiated Measure 21 Loan Interest Rates |
YES – caps interest rates for loans (such as payday) at 36 percent (the 36% rate was determined by the maximum rate that can be charged to active military personnel). This will protect all borrowers at the same rate (see Constitutional Amendment U). |
| Initiated Measure 22
Campaign Finance Reform |
YES – revises campaign finance and lobbying laws; establishes an ethics commission and other efforts which promote transparency in state government. |
|
Initiated Measure 23 Fees for Services |
YES – gives corporate and nonprofit organizations the right to charge a fee for services. Requires all who benefit to pay their fair share. |
| Referred Law 19
Changes to Nominating Petitions |
NO – prevents the enactment of a law passed in 2016 which prohibits members of registered political parties from signing petitions for independent candidates, shortens the time frame for candidates to submit nominating petitions, and makes it more difficult for new candidates to run for office. |
|
Referred Law 20 Youth Minimum Wage |
NO – leaves the law at $8.50/hour wage rate for all workers, preserving the 55% 2014 election results. |
I couldn’t agree more. In walking to 1413 homes with the “Ballot Issues Summary” from Candidate Committees here in the Sioux Falls area, I’ve realized a pattern in the brochure with listing of Amendments, Referred Laws and lastly, Initiated Measures. My sequence became “YES, NO, YES, NO, YES, NO, NO, YES, YES, YES!”
One of my opponents at last week’s Credit Union dinner had a different pattern. He said he was voting YES on one issue and NO on all the others! (Sad Face)
Flip all those votes around, except for the Marsy Law fiasco.
Or, if that’s too confusing, just Vote NO on Everything!
Only Trump’s low intelligent, uneducated would vote NO just for the sake of voting NO.
I don’t know about those fellows, Mr. C, but that nice Mr. Weld fellow is probably garnering a lot of votes for my Libertarian candidate, Mr. Johnson. And I encourage all my Libertarian friends to vote NO on Everything! But if you want to vote yes on a couple things, vote NO on all the Initiated Measure things.