State officials say the ballot was designed to be read in a single sitting, provided the sitting lasts through the next administration.
SACRAMENTO, California (Screw The News) – The state capital entered its post-election recovery phase this week with a governor-elect, an outgoing governor, a stack of 14 statewide propositions and a single overworked state calculator that technicians described as “warm to the touch and emotionally unavailable.”
Democrat Xavier Becerra was projected to defeat Republican Steve Hilton in the governor’s race shortly after polls closed, according to ABC7’s election-day live coverage, which also reported that Proposition 3, the measure to make the state’s top income-tax rates permanent, was passing with roughly 59 percent of the vote and that Proposition 39, which would have required ID to vote in person, had failed. The rest of the ballot is the part that has Sacramento reaching for the aspirin.
Frequently Asked Questions About Everything on the Ballot
What did voters actually decide?
That depends on how many pages of the voter guide you read. According to one summary of the 14 measures on the ballot, voters were asked about housing bonds, a larger rainy-day fund, a repeal of the ban on public financing of campaigns, a fix to recall elections, middle-income home loans, immunology research bonds, voter ID, a one-time tax on billionaires, three separate rules about taxes, community clinics and environmental review. A typical resident told reporters that this was “a lot of things to do before breakfast.”
Which propositions disagree with each other?
Several. As CalMatters explained in its guide to Props 40, 41 and 42, the billionaire tax and two other measures were set up in a way that lets one measure potentially undercut another if they all pass. The Secretary of State’s office has declined to say who will referee, but staff are reportedly leaning toward a coin flip supervised by three attorneys, each billing for the coin.
A senior analyst at the Legislative Preparedness Office, Winifred Castellanos-Bright, described the situation as “a trust fall in which everyone also brought a lawsuit.” She said her office had drawn a flowchart of the possible outcomes and that it required a second flowchart to explain the first.
What does the outgoing governor do now?
Officials say the outgoing governor will spend the remaining weeks of his term in what the Capitol calls “legacy mode,” which involves signing certificates, cutting ribbons, and quietly checking to see which of his own initiatives survived the weekend. A staffer, speaking on condition that a plant behind her be kept out of the story, said the mood was “like the last day of school, if school had a pension.”
How is the Capitol handling the news that voter ID failed?
With the calm of a building that has seen everything twice. Proponents said the vote reflected a misunderstanding of a simple measure, opponents said it reflected a correct understanding of a dangerous one, and both sides announced plans to hold a press conference at the same podium at the same hour, which will be solved, officials say, by installing a second podium and then a third.
Comedians React to the Results
Sacramento stand-up Wendell Abercrombie-Soto, who performs weekly at a coffee shop two blocks from the Capitol, said that at this point the ballot was less a democratic exercise than a long-form escape room. “You go in, you’re given 14 puzzles, and half of them are a trap set by the other half,” he said. “And at the end they tell you to vote yes on two and no on one, but not that one, the other one. I’m a professional. I did a reading comprehension test in college. I was out of my depth by Prop 4.”
Comic Delphine Ravenscroft-Nakamura said she voted entirely by tarot. “The Fool card, which means a leap of faith, told me to approve the rainy-day fund,” she said. “And the Tower card, which means disaster, told me to vote on anything with the word ‘CEQA’ in it. I don’t want to say the cards are always right, but the pattern was suspiciously consistent.”
An Official Notice From the Secretary of State’s Counting Room
NOTICE TO ALL RESIDENTS. Counting of ballots will continue until every ballot has been counted, after which a second counting will confirm that the first counting occurred. Residents are reminded that a “yes” on one proposition does not constitute a “no” on a related proposition, except where it does. Please do not call this office to ask what the propositions mean. This office is also trying to find out. Snacks are appreciated but not required.
Rural California Wonders Whether Anyone Is Listening
As the election dust settled, farmers in the Central Valley were reportedly less concerned with the winners than with the process, a sentiment echoed in the viral demand from growers who asked for the right to be apolitical because they were too busy feeding both parties. A local almond grower who asked to be identified as “the guy with the almonds” told reporters that he would be happy to participate in democracy as soon as democracy produced a ballot he could read between irrigation cycles.
Others went further. In some counties, residents are circulating jokes about filing for a political divorce, an idea previously floated in a story about rural counties doing exactly that. California’s Legislative Counsel said it would study the matter and report back in time for the next election, at which point it will study the next one.
For now, the governor-elect has a transition to run, the legislature has bills to pass and the Secretary of State has a calculator to cool down. Those who want to follow every twist can bookmark Bohiney, which has filed its own proposition on the next ballot, requiring all propositions to arrive with a table of contents.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/