The 2012 Hillsborough County General Election Ballot

I went on-line yesterday and downloaded a sample ballot for the November 6 election. This is the "Official General Election Ballot/Hillsborough County, Florida/November 6, 2012."

In the first section, President and Vice President, there are twelve options; thirteen if you count the write-in. The one that elicited a what-the-f~~k reaction from me was the choice of Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan. You have got to be kidding! Is this someone's idea of a joke?

Apparently not. According to a Bay News 9 report: The candidates are all on the ballot due in no small part to a 1998 law that makes it easier for minor party candidates to qualify in Florida.

Only Colorado has more, with 17 candidates appearing on that state's presidential ballot. Many states will only have two candidates.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

• Alexander, Stewart
  (Socialist Party of Fla.)
• Anderson, Ross C. "Rocky"
  (Justice Party of Fla.)
• Barnett, Andre
  (Reform Party)
• Barr, Roseanne
  (Peace and Freedom Party of Fla.)
• Goode, Jr., Virgil H.
  (Constitution Party of Fla.)
• Hoefling, Tom
  (America’s Party of Fla.)
• Johnson, Gary
  (Libertarian Party of Fla.)
• Lindsay, Peta
  (Party for Socialism and Liberation)
• Obama, Barack
  (Fla. Democratic Party)
• Romney, Mitt
  (Republican Party of Fla.)
• Stein, Jill
  (Green Party of Fla.)
• Stevens, Thomas Robert
  (Objectivist Party of Fla.)

The legal opinion states: The amendment to Article VI, section 1, Florida Constitution, proposed by the Constitutional Revision Commission and approved by the electorate during the November 1998 general election, [...] provides that ballot access requirements for independent and minor party candidates cannot be greater than requirements for candidates of the party with the greatest number of registered voters.

So, thanks to Florida voters in 1998, Roseanne Barr and fellow goobers are legally entitled to clutter the ballot.

And now you know.

Speaking of that sample ballot: The eleven constitutional amendments and the two county charter amendments that appear on the ballot are not easy reads - even for those of us with time on our hands and some legal training. As a point of reference, it took me almost three hours to research the issues presented by these amendments. I looked at the pros and the cons, and was able to form my own opinion, which I present below.

I would strongly urge all Florida voters to download the sample ballots to give yourself adequate time to read and understand what you are going to be voting for.

This ballot is a total cluster-f~~k and never should have been allowed. The average voter hasn't the time or training to wade through long legal documents while in the voting booth. As a consequence many voters are going to rely on someone else, with questionable qualifications, to tell them how to vote. Either that, or eenie-meenie-miney-mo.

Take the Oracle as a for instance. We are liberal progressive, and here is how we will vote:

• President - Barrack Obama
• U.S. Senator - Bill Nelson
• Rep. Congress District 14 - Kathy Castor
• State Senator District 22 - abstain, the only choice is a Teabagger Republican
• Sheriff - only one choice, David Gee
• Property Appraiser - Bob Henriquez
• Supervisor of Elections - Craig Latimer
• BOCC District 6 - Kevin Beckner
• Retain all three Justices of the Florida Supreme Court
• Retain all three District Court of Appeal Judges
• School Board District 7 - Carol Kurdell
• Soil and Water District 2 - Sharon Collins
• Soil and Water District 4 - Joe Wendt

Amendment 1,  the Florida Health Care Amendment - NO (Seeks to exempt Florida from national healthcare law - Supremacy Clause in the United States Constitution would override the state laws, making the proposed amendment a moot point)

Editor's Note: Amendments 2, 4, 9, 10, and 11 on the surface sound like "feel good" amendments and will probably pass, but those five amendments would cut local property tax revenues by more than $1 billion in the first three years, likely forcing cuts in education, transportation, public safety and other services.

The voter needs to ask, "Can we really afford these amendments?"

Amendment 2, Veterans Disabled Due To Combat Injury; Homestead Property Tax Discount - NO (The proposal calls for exempting military personnel, including members of the National Guard, deployed in war zones from paying property taxes for the duration of the deployment - your taxes will increase or services decrease, or both)

Amendment 3, State Government Revenue Limitation - NO (Replaces the existing state revenue limitation, based on Florida personal income growth, in its stead a new revenue limitation based on inflation and population changes - Amendment 3 will actually raise taxes and fees on most residents, does nothing to make state government more efficient)

Amendment 4,  Florida Property Tax - NO (Burden of Florida's property taxes would likely shift away from first-time homebuyers, developers, snowbirds and landlords and weigh down the state's existing homeowners under a ballot measure approved last year by state lawmakers and pushed this year by Florida's real-estate industry)

Amendment 5, State Courts - NO (Would allow Florida Legislature to repeal court rules with a majority vote, instead of the two-thirds now required, affording Republicans who control the Legislature the power to block court rules in the future even if their current super-majority shrinks)

Amendment 6, Abortion Amendment - NO (Amendment 6 would allow politicians to interfere with a woman’s right to make decisions about her own reproductive health)

Amendment 7 was stricken due to ambiguous wording and has become,

Amendment 8, Religious Freedom - not only NO, but HELL NO (This has nothing to do with religious freedom - it allows our tax dollars to fund questionable religious organizations and activities)

Amendment 9, Florida Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses - NO (It purports help the families left behind when a veteran or first responder dies in service to his country or community)

Amendment 10, Tangible Property Tax - NO ( The measure would increase the existing tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 for about 150,000 businesses but would cost local governments 20 million dollars the first year alone)

Amendment 11, Additional Homestead Exemption - NO (Authorizes the legislature to pass a law allowing counties and municipalities to pass ordinances granting an additional homestead exemption equal to the assessed value of a homestead property if the property has an market value of less than $250,000 and the owner is 65 or older, has maintained a permanent residence on the property for at least 25 years and has a low household income as defined by law - estimated tax burden over two years: $18.5 million, if every county and city in the state were to implement it)

Amendment 12, Appointment of student body president - NO (This amendment would change the way the state selects the student representative on the state university system’s Board of Governors, which oversees the university system, what many have said is unnecessary)

Let's just cut to the chase. Say "No" to all 11 constitutional amendments on the November ballot. They are high-minded and compassionate-sounding, but their titles are intentionally deceptive. 

They are not what they seem!

As described in the Florida Sun Sentinel, "They were put on the ballot by the tea-party-dominated Florida Republican Legislature (aka the "voter suppression folks"), they are Trojan Horses, designed to fool you into voting against your best interests. They intensify the war on women, give greater power to the Legislature over the judiciary, gut government revenues, destroy the historic and fundamental separation between church and state, and create tension (and expensive, futile lawsuits) with the federal government."

Now, the last two items on the ballot:

Section 9.11 of the Hillsborough County Charter is asking voters to approve changing the term physical handicap to disability. The only issue here is a change in terminology. Vote YES.

Amend Charter to require a financial impact statement for all county charter amendments and county wide referendum. I could find no documentation to either support or deny this amendment. I suppose I would have to vote - WHY NOT. Editor's Update: Since posting on this issue I have discovered additional information.

This is a redundant measure that would have the county budget director estimate the two-year increase or decrease in revenue from any proposed referendum. There is nothing meaningful about the two-year window. It also lets county commissioners politically influence the cost estimates and create more confusion. As a consequence I change my vote to NO.