There are 17 ballot measures that Californians will vote on this year.
That’s right, s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n.
Some of these measures deal with critical issues such as repealing the death penalty, background checks for ammunition purchases, and funding for schools.
Fifteen measures were put on the November ballot by citizens through signature petitions, and two by the legislature. It’s great allowing ordinary citizens to put issues up for a vote (one they acquire the necessary signatures), but 17 just seems way too much. Who has the time to do more than just a cursory overview of the pros and cons of each measure, if they spend any time at all?
A California voter’s guide is available that looks at each of the ballot measures, but it is almost 100 pages in length.
Here is a summary of the 17 measures, and if you are interested, you can click on any of the propositions and find out more about the issue (post continued below table).
| Type | Title | Subject | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISS | Proposition 51 | Education | $9 billion in bonds for education and schools |
| CICA/SS | Proposition 52 | Healthcare | Voter approval of changes to the hospital fee program |
| CICA | Proposition 53 | Elections | Projects that cost more than $2 billion |
| CICA/SS | Proposition 54 | Accountability | Conditions under which legislative bills can be passed |
| CICA | Proposition 55 | Taxes | Personal income tax increases on incomes over $250,000 |
| CICA | Proposition 56 | Tobacco | Increase the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack |
| CICA/SS | Proposition 57 | Trials | Felons convicted of non-violent crimes |
| LRSS | Proposition 58 | Education | Bilingual education in public schools |
| AQ | Proposition 59 | Campaign finance | State’s position on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission |
| CISS | Proposition 60 | Movies | Require the use of condoms in pornographic films |
| CISS | Proposition 61 | Healthcare | Prescription drug price regulations |
| CISS | Proposition 62 | Death penalty | Repeal the death penalty |
| CISS | Proposition 63 | Firearms | Background checks for ammunition purchases |
| CISS | Proposition 64 | Marijuana | Legalization of marijuana and hemp |
| CISS | Proposition 65 | Environment | Grocery and retail carry-out bags |
| CISS | Proposition 66 | Death penalty | Death penalty procedures |
| VR | Proposition 67 | Business reg | Prohibition on plastic single-use carryout bags |
For comparison purposes, Florida has four ballot measures slated for the November 8 election, Pennsylvania and Illinois have one each, and New York and Texas have none.
If you are curious about what measures, if any, are on your state ballot, you can click here. The site that has this info, Ballotpedia, seems to be a very useful site when it comes to politics and elections. Here is another table, courtesy of Ballotpedia, that indicates the most popular referendums.
| Topic | On the ballot |  Approved |
 Defeated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marijuana | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Minimum wage | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Healthcare | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Gun laws | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| All[1] | 163 | 7 | 1 |
The simple fact that these are the most popular measures says something about what the mood of the nation is at this point in time.
I wish the citizens of California the best with the upcoming election; I hope you find the time to research the issues that are important to you.
As interesting as the current election is, I am sure you are looking forward to no more commercials or yard signs dealing with politics.
Go Vote, November 8.
Borden's Blather 