#california ballot propositions

[uboat53]

Well, I've just about finished filling out my ballot and, in order to do so, I had to research all the various ballot propositions (we have ten of them this election cycle in California) and, dude, Props 33 and 34 are weird, weird enough that I had to do a ton of digging and weird enough that I have to tell you what I found if only for the entertainment value.

So Prop 33 is pretty simple, what it does is it repeals a state law from the 90s that prevented localities from enacting rent control measures. Whether you agree or disagree, that at least makes sense, right?

Prop 34 is… yeah, it's not that simple. Prop 34 requires that health care providers that (1) spent over $100 million in any 10 year period on something other than direct patient care and (2) operated multifamily housing with over 500 high-severity health and safety violations (3) spend 98% of revenues from the federal discount prescription drug program on direct patient care.

That seems oddly specific, right? How many health care providers spend that much money on something other than patient care, run multifamily housing units with lots of violations, AND participate in federal discount prescription drug programs?

It turns out that the answer is "one", and that one also turns out to be related to Prop 33.

You see, there's a non-profit based out of Los Angeles called the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). The AHF mostly provides AIDS-related health care stuff like tests, PrEP, and referrals to specialty pharmacies, but they also, starting in 2017, have been creating housing for low-income individuals and, since that time, they've also become politically involved in local and state ballot measures that would block some local development and allow for the expansion of rent control.

AHF is one of the main supporters of Prop 33 and backed Prop 10 in 2018 and Prop 21 in 2020 which would have also expanded rent control (Props 10 and 21 both failed). Prop 34 was backed mostly by landlord and realty groups and seems specifically targeted to stop AHF from spending money on politics.

If you're interested, this is the LA Times piece I found that finally laid the whole thing out.

Gotta love the crazy California ballot proposition system. Stay tuned for more political hilarity.

[rotationalsymmetry]

Rent control is on the ballot for California voters this November.

I uh, get that tumblr isn't exactly sorted by geography, but this is a huge deal.

It's a huge deal even for people who don't expect to be personally affected by it -- rent control is a protection against the poorest people living in a city being forced out, and that's just bad for everyone. When you have a city where only medium well off to rich people live, you get their service employees coming in from a suburb an hour and a half away (blech) or else you get people stacked three to a room. Or people holding down a job or three while trying to earn enough to get off the street or, well, out of their parents' place or away from the abusive partner they can't afford to break up with. Point is, a lack of housing that people can just keep living in at the same price, means a lot of bad things for society, and we probably aren't going to socialize housing within the next ten years but maybe we can get rent control back.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Donald Padgett at The Advocate:

Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii approved ballot measures amending their constitutions to remove language banning marriage equality by significant margins on Tuesday. In California, Proposition 3, Constitutional Right to Marriage, amends the California Constitution to remove language stating that marriage exists only between men and women. Prop. 3 leads by 61.1 percent to 38.9 percent, with over 95 percent of the estimated vote counted. In Colorado, Measure J removes the language “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state” from the Colorado Constitution. Measure J passed with over 63 percent of the vote, Colorado Public Radio reports. In Hawaii, Question #1 asked voters, “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?” Over 52 percent voted yes to the question, the Star Advertiser reports. The three victories provided a ray of hope for the LGBTQ+ community on a night that saw Donald Trump retaking the Presidency and the Republicans regaining control of the Senate.

Voters in three states (CA, CO, HI) voted to repeal their dormant bans on marriage equality from their constitutions.

[maxbegone]

The election doesn’t start tomorrow, it ends tomorrow.

If you haven’t already, please make sure you are registered to vote and know where your polling place is (vote.org is a great and easy way to get that information). Additionally, please make sure you have a way to get to your polling place. Uber and Lyft often give free or discounted rides to the polls, and this year the car rental company, Hertz, is allowing free one-day rentals to get to the polls. More information on that here.

EDIT: NAACP has a discount code to use for Lyft, valid for two rides up to $20 ($40 total). Use code: NAACPVOTE24

The following states allow same day registration for general elections, ie: the presidential election:

California

Colorado

Washington DC

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Iowa

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Mexico

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Note: North Dakota does not require formal voter registration, and upon presenting valid identification at a polling place, eligible citizens receive their ballot to vote.

all info here

The following states are required by law to give you time off to vote (between one and three hours):

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Georgia

Illinois

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

Nevada

New Mexico

New York

Ohio

Oklahoma

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

*Most states requiring employers to permit voting leave also require that this time is paid. Among the above, the following do not: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Dakota. (info here)

Again, it is your right to vote. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line. It is your legal right to vote.

If you are turned away at the polls, say the following verbatim: “Give me a provisional ballot with a receipt as required by law.”

If you make a mistake on your ballot, you have the right to ask for a new ballot. Don’t cross anything out, simply ask for a new one.

Poll workers are required to make reasonable accommodations for voters who need, including ballots in other languages or translators.

Canvassing is not allowed at polling places, and no one is allowed to threaten or intimidate voters. You have the right to report anything of the like.

All info taken from here

Some tips:

Don’t wear political merch to the polls.

Don’t engage with anyone about your politics at the polls.

Don’t take phone calls inside your polling place — it can wait, please be respectful.

Research who is running locally and see what their policies are. Additionally, research any local propositions that may be on the ballot. The language on ballots is made to be purposefully confusing, so make sure you read everything carefully in addition to your research.

If you’re able to get up early on Election Day, go right when your polling place opens to beat the line.

REMEMBER: IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!

Here are a list of state-by-state voter protection hotlines, as well as hotlines in various other languages:

Please vote tomorrow if you have not already. It’s so important, and choosing not to vote or voting for a third party is a vote for extremist measures. Vote down the ballot, and do not let anyone bully you into voting one certain way.

What we are seeing throughout this election cycle (and the last two election cycles) is entirely abnormal. The bullying we see from a certain side and its supporters is childish and dangerous. They spew false information, make racist remarks, and sexualize and discriminate fellow candidates. No single presidential candidate is completely and wholly good, so criticize accordingly.

Vote with those you love in mind, vote with your safety in mind, and vote for those who will be affected for decades to come. Vote for someone who speaks coherently, not for someone who is, let’s be honest, not cognitively alright — and that is the bare minimum of the issue.

If you have anything to add to this post, please do. If anything is incorrect, please let me know and I will gladly change it.

Vote. Vote. Vote.

[humming-fly]

If you live in the US, STOP SCROLLING

This is your reminder to make a Voting Plan!

Step 1: Check your Registration

Registered already? Go to Step 3!

Step 2: Register to Vote

Step 3: Learn about your state's Early Voting Options

Like early voting and have that option? Skip to Step 5!

Step 4: Explore your Day-Of Voting Options

Step 5: Research Candidates

Step 6: Share your Plans

Detailed sample down below!

Step 1: I'm in California, so I clicked here at https://www.vote411.org/check-registration

Clicking on that took me to my state's registration check page, where I filled out in those fun black squares with my info...

...and there's my confirmation! This also provides info on where I'm currently registered to vote, which is good to know when looking up ballot drop-off locations.

Step 2: Since I already am registered I could skip this, but just to show it off here's what the online tool at https://www.vote411.org/register looks like!

The site asks you to put in your name and mailing address, and then sends you off to your own state's voter registration page to finish it up!

Step 3: Since I'm in California, I went to https://www.vote411.org/select-state and selected that state to bring up CA's voting information page.

And here's what my info looks like! The top of the page gives a quick overview of registration deadlines...

...and scrolling down reveals a bunch of additional info for any further questions! I've selected Early Voting on the lefthand tab to bring that up here.

Skimming this, it looks like California offers voting by mail, which is what I want to do.

Scrolling further down the lefthand menu I pulled up the Vote by Mail tab to learn more...

...and based on the information there I went to find the tab that would tell me about Drop Boxes in California!

Following that link brings me to California's early voting drop-off page.

For now let's just use Disneyland as our address to see where we can drop things off. Entering the county and city information we get this list:

Checking the box to Display Results on Map, it looks like there's a drop off location right by Disney that is open 24 hours! I went ahead and screenshotted the address on my computer, and opened it in google maps so that I could keep track of where it was.

Perfect, I now have a plan for dropping off my mail-in ballot!

Finally, I want to know where my mail-in ballot is. Assuming you live in a state with mail-in ballots but haven't seen yours yet, you can usually track them or request new ones if your address has recently changed.

I just googled "California mail in ballot tracking" and wound up on this page.

Filling out the little form at the Where'sMyBallot link (name and date of birth), I can see that my ballot has been sent out and is en route!

Since it was sent on October 7th, I suspect it's already arrived, and lo and behold checking my mailbox there it is buried under all the political mailers!

Step 4: Since I will be voting by mail, I will skip Step 4 for now (though vote411.org lists traditional voting areas/what I'd need to bring so that's where I'd get that info if needed!)

Step 5: When doing research I started with https://www.vote411.org/ballot, since it gives a preview image of all of the items that will be on my ballot based on my address.

I can click on any of these to see the candidate options, and their statements if they've been provided. However for many of these options on vote411.org there aren't too many additional details, so I want to do my own research looking at neutral voting summaries and candidate endorsements by groups I align with politically!

For the election summary, I started with the General Election Official Voter Information Guide booklet that was mailed to my address a few weeks ago. This is the best source of unbiased voting information in my opinion, especially when it comes to state and local propositions since it will summarize them and also include opinion pieces written for and against each one. You can also access it online, as shown below!

To find it, I googled "California Official Voter Information Guide", and made sure it was sourced from my local government.

Another good source of information I used is npr.org, or National Public Radio. NPR provides news that is free to read and listen to, and is one of my personal favorite ways to stay informed. There's also local branches of the station for every state, and each one will usually have a voting guide with side-by-side comparisons that makes it easy to read.

To find mine, I googled "California NPR Voting Guide"

Finally if there was anything on the ballot where I wasn't convinced one way or the other on certain candidates or initiatives, I checked out some political endorsements!

A few of the ones I looked at are Planned Parenthood (women's health and abortion access), the Sunrise Movement (climate activism), the Sierra Club (climate change, national park preservation). I found these by googling "[Name of org] voting guide california".

Since I'm voting by mail I could keep these webpages opened as I filled out my ballot.

For voting in person, I'd recommend writing candidates down as a cheat sheet to bring into the poll so you can remember what you want to vote for! https://www.vote411.org/ballot will let you arrange that cheat sheet real easily.

Now that my ballot is filled out I'll just drop it off at the address I found in Step 3 - setting a time for myself, I'll plan to drop it off when I go for a walk this afternoon! 👍

Step 6:

After I finished up I went ahead and posted on facebook and to my friends in discord on how I'd made a voting plan, to help encourage friends/family to do the same!

You can be as public or as personal as you want here, but sharing can help encourage others to put a plan together too - if you made it this far it can even be as simple as reblogging this post with a message saying "I Made a Voting Plan"!

[if-i-am-not-for-me]

Recommendation for all US voters to check out Ballotpedia to help make your decisions, specifically about ballot measures and propositions. I just discovered the fuckery around both Prop 33 and Prop 34 here in California and was able to make an informed choice of how to vote on both (not that my ballot has arrived yet, but I have a note on my phone reminding me of how I have chosen to vote on each proposition.)

It's only really helpful for state-level ballot measures and propositions, but it is VERY helpful for them. It does have some information about county and local-level measures, but far less detail.

[thunderbottle]

if youre a california voter there are a great deal of important propositions to vote on in the ballot the year. Do your research! Read the general election voter information pamphlet!!

Some highlights are removing gendered language from marriage legislation, ENDING INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE FOR INCARCERATED PEOPLE (in the state that uses prison labor to fight wildfires every fire season THIS IS VITAL), raising minimum wage, rent control!!! There are also propositions that desperately need to be voted against, including the one to further increase sentencing time for drug related crimes.

Its statistically fairly likely that a lot of people on this site are californian. Vote to make this state a better place to live in.

[necronomeconomicism]

Voting in the United States is unintuitive, often undemocratic, and painful. The natural emotional reaction with being asked to support vile people at the ballot box is disgust and avoidance. For leftists it doesn't help either when dominant narratives about voting put it on a pedestal as something patriotic system-serving citizens do.

But voting doesn't have to mean declaring personal support or belief in anyone, and there is a lot more to vote on than the presidency. Still, there's no bubble to fill in that says "Gay luxury space communism immediately!" so what do we do with the ballot?

There are two kinds of things you might get to vote on. Representatives and Propositions(or Measures). Representatives are those politicians the news is always abuzz about. Propositions are US America's cute attempt at direct democracy and can be a breath of fresh air to vote on when they're not trying to con you. Most are "citizen-initiated" so this is where you'll find most non centrist political actions. As I understand it 24 states do not have citizen-initiated propositions and of them some don't seem to have propositions at all. If you live in one of those I'm sorry.

Your mental energy should be prioritized in this order.

Propositions -> Local Representatives -> State Representatives -> Federal Representatives -> Presidency

UNLESS you live in a swing state, the list of which can vary depending on the election. In that case you'll have to think about the presidency first. I'm sorry. The electoral college is stupid.

I live in California, so we'll be going through part of the 2024 California ballot. Before we get into this know there is nothing wrong with using a voting guide that just tells you what to vote for. That is, only if the guide is good, which is uncommon. Most guides are either horrible or don't cover everything on the ballot. Before using a voting guide check who is funding it. If it has any holes consider researching those propositions or elected positions yourself.

California has 11 propositions on the ballot. I'm only going to go over one in detail, but I do want to bring up some more straightforward ones to illustrate a point

Prop 3 enshrines gay marriage in the California constitution Prop 6 bans forced prison labor in the state Prop 32 raises the minimum wage to $18 Prop 33 allows local governments to enact stronger rent control

Propositions like these, if they are available, leave decent leftists no excuse not to vote. No matter how much you detest the presidential candidates, no matter how revolutionary you aspire to be, no matter how much you hate American "democracy" propositions like these can have immense positive impacts on people's lives when they pass. You cannot allow yourself to be thoroughly terrified of the ballot box when these exist. And on the other hand

Prop 36 makes drug possession a felony and makes theft under $950 a felony after multiple violations

You cannot just do nothing and let something that monstrous pass. And it fucking might! And all that good stuff might not! There are more than twice as many millions of dollars in advertisements pushing prop 36 than against it right now. Forget the presidency for a moment, if you live in California, you get to decide if literal slavery is allowed in prisons or not.

As for representatives I'm not going to say exactly what city I live in, but I can say there are multiple elected positions that aren't even divided along party lines. There are also multiple state, district, and county representatives that aren't just horrible people. Many of them backed by unions rather than corporate money.

There's also sneaky shit on the ballot. I mentioned earlier propositions made to con you. This season's example is Prop 34 which, "requires certain healthcare providers to spend 98% of the revenues from the federal discount prescription drug program on direct patient care." Sounds maybe like a neat healthcare bill, but it says "certain" and that's a tricky word on the ballot. In this case Prop 34 specifies it only applies to healthcare providers that own housing. Only one healthcare provider in California does that, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. A non profit that has put its weight behind affordable housing including support for Prop 33.

Without people doing the research on things like Prop 34, bills like this can easily pass and enable all sorts of chicanery.

So go vote! Do some research and make some changes to the world! Don't let it be the only thing you do either. Voting only happens every two years. Contact your local political groups and volunteer your time or even just listen. Talk to your friends about what you're doing. Exercise your political muscles! Exercise your organizational muscles! Solidarity can be hard, but we have to be up for it. Your leftism has to affect the world around you or it will rot in the prison that is your skull.

[catboybiologist]

Honest question, why bother voting if you live in California?

Like it's not going to change the outcome for sure

So the most obvious reason is that the president isn't the only thing you vote for. Local candidates and statewide measures are in the ballot too. And those are ABSOLUTELY worth voting for. This is big fucking reason number 1. California has ballot propositions right now on ending slavery as a form of criminal punishment, rent and housing reform, and a dangerous crime and punishment bill.

This alone should be more than enough reason to vote in California, I'm begging you (general you, not the asker, I'm p sure you're not American iirc).

As for the president, yeah, I was initially with your other ask that "voting third party will send a message", BUT, I've had some major shifts in how I view my vote.

One, no state is as safe as you think it is. I know "red California" seems like a fairy tale, but remember that we're the state that gave the world Reagan. There's a vicious undercurrent of neoliberal right wing mentalities here, and I don't want to abstain from the vote in the year that this current takes over enough.

Florida used to be a swing state. Now it's solid R. And there are endless examples.

This year it's not gonna happen, of course. Hell, we're Harris' home state. But I'm a little too scared to make that judgement call right now.

The other shift I've had is in the way that parties view their votes. These thoughts are way more poorly formed and I know people are going to judge me for them, so please don't pounce.

Major politicians don't view abstain or third party votes as protest votes. They view them as demographics that they've already lost. Permanently. They view them as either lazy young people who won't vote, or idealists who they can't appeal to. And yeah, maybe I fit that bill.

Right now, the messaging the Dems need to be sent is that yes, they can actually get a turnout.

Federal presidential candidates aren't going to try to appeal to people who are voting green. They're going to continue appealing to center suburbanites and forgetting about the left.

Does all this mean "blindly rally behind the Democrats"? God fucking no. It means plug your nose, mark a piece of paper, and hope they win because they'll listen at least the TINIEST but more when you raise hell in the future.

The question also is, do I believe in the Greens at all? Or is it just a "stick it to the Democrats" vote? And is giving the Greens legitimacy an unintended side effect, or an intent for that vote? I don't want to say personal answers to those questions

[unnecessaryligatures]

Psych (TV) and Same-Sex Marriage in California

While rewatching Psych, I have been thinking about what audiences today versus audiences at the time would have thought about the references to the issue of same-sex marriage, and what it says about voting this November.

(This post contains some spoilers for Psych Seasons 3 and 6.)

A lot happened in California related to same-sex marriage while Psych was airing. In 2004 (two years before the show began), same-sex marriage was briefly legal for one month, though the licenses issued were later voided. It became legal again in June 2008 for a little over four months until Proposition 8 was passed that November, which modified the California Constitution to make the definition of marriage be between a man and a woman. This time, marriage licenses issued in 2008 remained valid.

Psych Season 3 started airing in July 2008. So all of this would have been on people's minds during 3x11 "Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing" when Drimmer sets Shawn and Lassiter up to be "former lovers" in their murder-suicide note.

Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional in August 2010, though this ruling was not final until 2013, when same-sex marriages were again permitted.

6x3 "This Episode Sucks" is when we learn that Lassiter's mom Mona has been with her girlfriend Althea since Lassiter left for the academy, and he keeps a framed photo of them in his apartment:

This episode aired in October 2011. Mona and Althea's right to marry would have very much been in limbo while the appeals worked their way through the courts.

The final episode of Season 6, 6x16 "Santabarbaratown," contains this scene, where our waitress identifies herself as an ally:

That episode aired in April 2012. Prop 8 was still very much on people's minds.

The final season of Psych (Season 8) finished airing in January of 2014, shortly after same-sex couples were again allowed to marry in California.

In 2015, same-sex marriage was finally legalized US-wide, overriding state constitutions on the subject. (If Obergefell v. Hodges were overturned, state constitutions would again take precedence.)

However, the California Constitution still technically defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, thanks to Prop 8. This year (2024), there is a vote on the ballot to finally remove that language from the California Constitution.

So, the issues LGBTQ+ Californians (and the Psych characters) faced while Psych was airing are still very much relevant when you cast your vote this November.

[dionysus-complex]

Missouri voting to overturn its abortion ban and raise the minimum wage while overwhelmingly supporting Trump and Hawley and California voting for Democrats but failing to raise the minimum wage or expand rent control while also passing the mass incarceration ballot proposition that even Gavin Newsom thought was too regressive are like two sides of the same fucking awful coin

[xhxhxhx]

Eli got his ballot the other day.

I'm still trying to understand it.

I.

The ballot card itself consists of four pages, each 8.5 by 19 inches, each double-sided. It carries the mark of the Secretary of State, tint and watermark. Cal. Elec. Code § 13002.

The United States guarantees to every one of its States a republican form of government. That means that here the people rule, more or less directly. California leans to the "more" side.

There are fourteen offices on the ballot, for the United States, the State of California, the City and County of San Francisco, for the school and college board, and the transit district.

Then there are twenty-five ballot propositions, ten for the State, fourteen for the City and County, one for the school board, and none, I suppose, for the transit district.

The ballot card arrived with something that calls itself a Voter Information Pamphlet and Sample Ballot. The Pamphlet is actually a volume of 294 pages, printed and bound on stock that gives it the texture and dimensions of a slim phone book.

San Francisco is a small town that likes to think it's a big one.

It certainly gave itself a big book.

II.

Looking over the materials, I was troubled by how little I knew and understood about what Eli was asked to do.

To take on part of the government of the State, as the ballot asks you to, is a heavy thing. It takes intelligence and judgment to discriminate between the better and the worse.

It takes some amount of understanding. It takes more when you're asked not only about one candidate, but many, and not only about candidates, but about the laws themselves.

It takes knowledge of the offices and their powers. In a constitutional government, officers have the powers the laws give them, and assemblies the powers the constitution gives them.

And I don't know the constitution or the laws.

III.

The Constitution of the United States is a compact little instrument. It amounts to about 7,500 words across seven articles and twenty-seven amendments.

The compactness is by design. It is short because short instruments, and possibly only them, M‘Culloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 407 (1819), may be read and understood.

California's constitution is a beast of a different order.

California doesn't make it easy to read its constitution. But the State Legislature does periodically put out a volume with the federal and state constitutions, along with other instruments.

In its most recent edition, updated to November 8, 2022, the book is 467 pages. The federal constitution, with amendments, takes up 22 of those pages. The state constitution takes up 210.

I still haven't more than skimmed it.

IV.

I'm trying to read up on the constitution and the laws of California. The State doesn't make it easy.

California is sparing in its reproductions of its laws. California permits you to read individual articles whole, but not parts or titles, at least not titles with more than one chapter.

To read the whole of the California Penal Code, for example, as presented by the State, you would need to open something a little short of 680 separate addresses. The four parts and 34,400 sections of California's penal code demand nothing less.

In Canada, where criminal law and procedure are exclusively federal matters by virtue of Constitution Act, 1867, 30 Vict. c. 3, § 91(27), the Crown provides the entirety of the federal Criminal Code, RSC 1985 c C-46, at a single address or a single document.

In California, your 680 separate addresses are not law. They are not even evidence of the law. If you take your copy of the California Penal Code, as presented, before a state magistrate, they may decline to take it.

Because California does not guarantee that what it presents is the law. It does not authenticate those 680 separate addresses, at least. California does not authenticate codes, titles, or chapters it presents to you. It does authenticate, but only something much smaller. Sections.

California will authenticate an individual section of its written law for you. It will give you a PDF with a digital signature. A single, letter page. A single section and a vast, blank space. And a digital signature, courtesy of Adobe.

That's what California gives you. But to get the whole thing? To get the whole 34,400 sections of the California Penal Code, the 9,500 sections of the Civil Code, or the 61,000 sections of the Revenue and Taxation Code? Well.

You'll have to put those together yourself.

V.

That's what I'm doing. I'm trying to put them together myself.

[remembertheplunge]

The gay men's take on Prop 64: 1986: Concentration Camps for people with AIDSs HIV

11/3/1986. Monday 

It now approaches midnight.

 A very pleasant evening at Tom and Greg's house. Nice wine and desert and Italian food (pasta) and friends. Talk ranged from “I’m homosexual and gay. What do you think about that?” A gay friend from San Fransisco and his lover, from Rocklin said ��oh, you looked great as a 40’s drag queen. My second boyfriend was captain of the high school football team.” The conversations also ranged to "Aids may wipe out the entire world population or it may be cured soon. "AIDS is all that they talk about in San Fransisco."

”But, don’t get this entry wrong, most of the time chit chat was just that, Tom's upcoming trip to China, There is a peacefulness in Mexico and a rushed feel to US life. Downtown Sacramento whose people are like machines.

The early stage party uptightness mellowed to late evening hugs and Cheer.

My margin note to the above entry:

Regarding Proposition 64, on the California ballot for the 11/4/1986 State Election which if adopted could result in concentration camps for people withHIV AIDS: Tom and Greg said “Don’t get an Aids test. If you test positive, you could be marked for 'prejudice camps' etc."

(Prop 64 would have required mandatory reporting of people who tested positive for HIV AIDS to the government leading to possible forced entry into an HIV Aids concentration camp .)

Notes: Tom and Greg (not their real names) were gay friends of mine when I lived in Sacramento to in 1986-1987.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Greg Owen at LGBTQ Nation:

In 2008 California voters outlawed same-sex marriage by passing Proposition 8, an infamous ballot measure largely funded by the Mormon Church. But voters just learned what ballot initiatives they’ll be voting on this November, and among them is Proposition 3, a law that would enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the state Constitution, effectively undoing Prop 8. The measure will ask voters to approve a “fundamental right to marry” and remove language that defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman. It’s a redo for voters in the Golden State of a notorious decision they made in 2008. The history of marriage equality in California is a veritable roller coaster ride, starting in 2004 when then-mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom directed city officials to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Newsom said the California Constitution’s equal protection clause gave him the authority to do so.

Both Newsom and the San Francisco District Attorney at the time, Kamala Harris, were among those who officiated approximately 4,000 same-sex marriages in the city from February 12 to March 11, before the State Supreme Court overturned Newsom’s directive. [...] Prop 3, authored by State Assemblymember Evan Low (D) of Silicon Valley and State Sen. Scott Weiner (D-SF), will take out the trash. Low, who’s running for a seat in Congress this fall, told LGBTQ Nation in an interview earlier this year that repealing the act is a moral obligation as well as a practical concern, following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision repealing the federal right to abortion. Justice Clarence Thomas has made clear other personal rights are in the conservative court’s crosshairs, making it all the more important to legally protect same-sex marriage rights.

California’s homophobic Prop 8 ballot measure could be repealed with a pro-LGBTQ+ ballot measure called Prop 3 this fall.

[theoutcastrogue]

"California voters chose harsher sentencing, the continuation of forced labor in prisons, and tough-on-crime prosecutors this week in overwhelming numbers. Proposition 36, a bill that upgrades a raft of petty theft and drug crimes from misdemeanors to felonies, was approved by 70 percent of voters in the initial counts. It is designed to incarcerate thousands more people by reversing a ballot measure passed 10 years ago, Prop 47, which downgraded theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors in response to massive prison overcrowding. On the same ballot, voters rejected a prison reform measure that would have made slave labor illegal in state prisons. [...]

Copaganda 

Police and prison guard groups have tried to roll back Prop 47 multiple times since its passage in 2014, but none have been as well-funded as this year’s Prop 36. Retail giants Walmart, Target, and Home Depot poured more than $6 million into the campaign, while In-N-Out and 7-Eleven each chipped in $500,000. Along with major donations from pro-business PACs and the state prison guards union, the campaign racked up nearly $17 million, dwarfing the opposition. [...]

For months, the Prop 36 campaign ran ads presenting the bill as a way to address the fentanyl crisis and make both businesses and consumers safer by putting people committing low-level property crimes behind bars.

After a spike during the initial years of the pandemic, property crimes have again begun to decline across California, continuing a decades-long trend, which sees rates at about half of what they used to be in the 1990s, according to Department of Justice figures. But that hasn’t stopped media outlets from keeping broadcasts of “smash-and-grab” incidents as mainstays of evening news cycles, often recycling the same footage."

[loving-n0t-heyting]

resentment at the mere concept of ballot propositions is a strangely widespread response to the california election this year among ppl who dont pursue evil for its own sake. the only real howlers were 36 and 34, and 34 was only there as punishment for getting 33 on the ballot. we could have abolished slavery, relegalised local rent control, and significantly upped the minimum wage an ongoing basis (jury is technically still out on the last one). nor is there anything particularly offensive about crowd-pleasing bonds for public services/infrastructure

the problem obviously isnt with these being placed on the ballot, its the part that comes after