GA 2010 Ballot - Amendment 1
"Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to make Georgia more economically competitive by authorizing legislation to uphold reasonable competitive agreements?"
The award for The Amendment That Makes You Sound Like A Moron If You Vote Against It goes to Georgia's ballot initiative Amendment 1. The genius of this initiative are the phrases "make Georgia more economically competitive" and "uphold reason" both of which sound desirable to everyone. The amendment, however, actually limits an employee's to switch between companies in the same field or found a small business related to that field for a certain time period. As we all know, the true spirit of competition is businesses lobbying the state government to stop people "stealing" their business. I have absolutely no doubt that the wording of this amendment had a great deal to do with it passing by 67.5%.
CA 2010 Ballot - Proposition 23
Suspend the implementation of the Air Pollution Control Law (AB 32) requiring major sources of emissions to report and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming until unemployment drops to 5.5 percent or less for full year.
The California Jobs Initiative (to supporters) or Dirty Energy Proposition (to anti-supporters), though sounding like a reasonable temporary measure to inject some confidence in to the business community over the short term, should come with this warning: California's unemployment "has been at 5.5% or below for four consecutive quarters just three times since 1980" ([1]). Unfortunately, global warming isn't really something that is contingent on a good or bad economy.
LA 2010 Ballot (Almost)
The Louisiana Prostitution Amendment, suppressing prostitution by allowing the state's legislature to enact laws prohibiting legalizing the ancient and noble profession, did not make it to this year's 2010 Louisiana ballot as it was not approved to get on the ballot in time (before June 21 2010) ([2]). Some might call this a victory for dirty old men and their for-hire lovers...
NM 2010 Ballot - Amendment 3 or The New Mexico Modern Election Language Amendment
"A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to Article 7, Section 1 of the Constitution of New Mexico to modernize language on qualified electors by removing language denigrating persons with developmental disabilities, adopting federal requirements to vote, defining mental incapacity for voting purposes and restricting felons from voting except as restored by statute."
Sound confusing? Don't know what you would be voting for, or should I say, what you voted for? Well, to put it simply, the amendment will remove official language in state's constitution that calls mentally disabled people "idiots" (as well as changing some other language). You'll be pleased to know that it only took the New Mexican government 88 years to figure out this wasn't cool. You might also be pleased to learn that 43% of the state's population voted against it.
NC 2010 Ballot - No Felons for Sheriff Amendment
"Constitutional amendment providing that no person convicted of a felony may serve as sheriff."
As a contrast to the ridiculousness that started this list, GA Amendment 1, North Carolina's only ballot initiative is perhaps as straightforward as you can get. The measure passed overwhelmingly, though I'm sensing that NC is missing out on an opportunity. Convicted felons, I think, might offer a unique insight into the running of the Sheriff's department...
"Constitutional amendment providing that no person convicted of a felony may serve as sheriff."
As a contrast to the ridiculousness that started this list, GA Amendment 1, North Carolina's only ballot initiative is perhaps as straightforward as you can get. The measure passed overwhelmingly, though I'm sensing that NC is missing out on an opportunity. Convicted felons, I think, might offer a unique insight into the running of the Sheriff's department...
Sources:
- http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_23_%282010%29
- http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Louisiana_Prostitution_Amendment_%282010%29
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