How can I find out about local ballot quetions?

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

It's easy to find out about the big three statewide questions this election, but what else is on the ballot? I've totally looked at the entire internet and can't find anything. I know there's more, because there were big signs at Honk encouraging me to vote yes on 4. (Which I found to be this.) But is that it? I think I heard something about 6.

In previous years, I've gotten this from http://wheredoivotema.com/, but I'm not finding anything about the actual ballot there. Is it just too soon?

Comments

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Did you try the League of Women Voters? That's where I usually find sample ballots.
http://www.lwvma.org/
But yes, it may be too early.

Really, sample ballots ought to be available easily, everywhere -- like tax forms, at the library and the post office and for download from official websites.

[ron_newman]

In the past, I've seen sample ballots at the City of Somerville's Election Department web site, as well as at WhereDoIVoteMA.com . But I don't see them at either place yet.

It shouldn't really be "too early" by now, since absentee ballots are already being sent out.

[zaarwin-devolve.livejournal.com]

Hello. I've already voted via absentee ballot. Q4 is what you posted. Q5-7 are non-binding resolutions asking Congresspeople and reps on Beacon Hill to vote for better health care, workers' rights, etc. I can't remember what exactly they are but they're pretty innocuous. I remember there being a kerfuffle about some lobbying organization trying to use one question back in '08 (or maybe '10?) to basically get Beacon Hill to condemn Israel, or something similar. I got no such impression from the three non-binding questions.

Hope this helps. :) I'd post the questions if my ballot weren't already in the mail.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that is helpful. I do hope I get to see the others before voting day, because sometimes the full wording on those non-binding resolutions gives me pause.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Oh, right! I found part of the text of the Israel one from a few years ago:

to instruct our state reps "to vote in favor of a non-binding resolution calling on the federal government to support the right of all people, including non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to people of one religion than another."

I found that one very disconcerting, with high principles to apply to All People Everywhere, except really just Israel, not to mention it seemed odd to be trying to affect US foreign policy as a local ballot initiative. (Yeah, "all politics are local", but still...)

[cos]

Minor nit on this tangential subthread...

Local advisory questions are intended to get state legislators to vote one way or another; often they're done in a coordinate fashion in a bunch of districts across the state. So the goal is to get the state to pass a resolution, which isn't too uncommon a way to try to influence the federal government. Although IIRC this one was done in one congressional district only, so it did seem silly on grounds of locality.

[etain.livejournal.com]

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elebalquestinfo.htm

[ron_newman]

I don't see anything there about local ballot questions. Am I missing something obvious?

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Not to be toooo snarky, but did you follow that link? It only shows the statewide ballot questions. And I guess if you know that the CPA may be a ballot question that's helpful too. But it doesn't show them all.

[cos]

The original post already has two links to places where you can get information about the three statewide questions.

[ron_newman]

Maybe this is new today, because I sure didn't see it before, but ... if you fill out the form at WhereDoIVoteMA.com, the reply screen now has a link called 'My State Ballot'. Here's what it tells me about advisory questions 5 through 7:

THIS QUESTION IS NOT BINDING
Shall the state senator from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon Congress and the President to: (1) prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance; (2) create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services; (3) provide new revenues for these purposes and to reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000; and (4) redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now?

THIS QUESTION IS NOT BINDING
Shall the state senator from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would allow the state to regulate and tax marijuana in the same manner as alcohol?

THIS QUESTION IS NOT BINDING
Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. constitution affirming that (1) corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings, and (2) both Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and political spending?

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's new today. Thanks for the update — I probably wouldn't have looked back there.

[ron_newman]

Note that these are only for Somerville (I think I checked addresses in all 3 of our state rep districts). Cambridge, Medford, Arlington, and other municipalities in the davis_square listening area may have different advisory questions, or different numbers for the same advisory questions.

[cos]

As you probably know, advisory ballot questions don't go by city or town, they're by state rep or state senator district (depending on how the signatures were collected and submitted). Based on the wording it appears that two of those questions are for Jehlen's senate district, which covers most of Somerville and all of Medford and Winchester. One question is on there by rep district.

[ron_newman]

Starting with November's election, Senator Jehlen's district includes all of Somerville, and also a good chunk of north and west Cambridge.

Somerville has the Community Preservation Act question (#4) on the ballot, while Cambridge and Medford don't. This means that the same non-binding advisory questions will have different numbers in Somerville than they do in Cambridge or Medford.