Arkansas Blog

Max can the Ark Times put together an officially endorsed ballot for Pulaski County. I know you basically did this in your most recent article but I early voted today and there was some stuff that surprised me a little:

Vote NO on Referred Question No.1 - Basically gives another $100 million (our of $300 million) to be used for Irrigation i.e. White River Irrigation District. Stop irrigating the WHite River, vote no.

Vote YES on Amendment 1 - we need to eliminate antiquated requirements for Poll Workers and outdated rules that bring into questions mental health potentially barring someone from voting.

Vote YES on Amendment No. 2 ??? - Could be poorly written but don't we need to move towards a full-time legislative body anyway.? Some things I would like to be limited to annual funding, some not so much. I think voters need some help on this one.

Vote YES on Amendment 3 - (vote NO against Halter's re-election) BUT in the end why not have a lottery. I hate gambling but its retarded to not have a voluntary tax that we can send straight to education. And Liberals need to give it a rest they come off sounding like CARRIE NATION; yes most of the under educated gamble, but they also drink, smoke, etc. and I don't think we are gonna out law that... maybe if we better educate the next generation with the money they won't gamble so much and we can fade it out.

Vote NO on Initiated Act 1 - bullshit attempt by Family Council to make it tougher on kids in Foster Care but outlawing any parents who are not married.

Vote for Barack Obama

Vote for Cathi Compton

Vote for Rita Bailey

Vote for Gary Sullivan or Mark Leaveritt

Vote for Hugh Finkelstein

Vote for Vic Snyder

Vote for Mark Pryor? (kidding but I did contemplate a protest vote after watching Religulous)

Did I miss anything? Just go VOTE

"I early voted today and there was some stuff that surprised me a little:"

Orval Eugene, you were a fool for voting early. Had you not voted so early, you would have had more time to study the ballot.

Ohh I took my time and got it right Durango kid. Its just took me a while to read through the entire damn thing and make a decision. "I am the decider"

Good luck with your plan of voting 10 minutes before the polls close on Election Day, hope you don't get delayed at the office or run 10 minutes late... cause it would be stupid to vote over the next 14 days available to you.

But yes Amendment no 2 surprised me, so I was trying to help everyone else

Here's the ballot ISSUES summary courtesy of UA Cooperative Extension Service (bluename)

Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1 - An amendment concerning voting, qualifications of voters and election officers, and the time of holding general elections.

Support: Referred to the People by the Arkansas General Assembly

Opposition: No formal opposition
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Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 2 - An amendment providing that no legislative appropriation shall be for a period longer than one year, providing for fiscal legislative sessions, requiring the General Assembly to meet every year with regular sessions continuing to be held in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions held in even-numbered years, unless the General Assembly votes to hold regular sessions in even-numbered years and fiscal sessions in odd-numbered years, and allowing the General Assembly to consider non-fiscal matters during a fiscal session upon approval of two-thirds of both houses.

Support: Referred to the People by the Arkansas General Assembly

Oppose: Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
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Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 3 - A constitutional amendment authorizing the General Assembly to establish, operate, and regulate state lotteries to fund scholarships and grants for Arkansas citizens enrolled in certified two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas.

Support: HOPE for Arkansas, Arkansas AFL-CIO

Oppose: Family Council Action Committee, Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, United Methodists Against Gambling
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Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 - An act providing that an individual who is cohabitating outside of a valid marriage may not adopt or be a foster parent of a child less than eighteen years old.

Support: Family Council Action Committee, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

Oppose: Arkansas Families First
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Referred Question No. 1 - Arkansas Water, Waste Disposal, and Pollution Abatement Facilities Financing Act of 2007

Support: Arkansans for Clean Water, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, Arkansas Municipal League

Oppose: Arkansas Wildlife Federation

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Full explanation and pro-con discussion of each issue on my name.

Good Work and kudos to UA Agri Extension Cooperative.

Opps! Here's the link to above

Orval Eugene,

You wrote: Vote YES on Amendment No. 2 ??? - Could be poorly written but don't we need to move towards a full-time legislative body anyway.? Some things I would like to be limited to annual funding, some not so much. I think voters need some help on this one."

There's a pro and con side to this one.

Pro- some groups would have better access to influence legislation. The way it's done presently is that things are run so rapidly very little influence is possible from neophytes. Full time paid lobbyists pretty well run the show.
Additionally there would be fewer special or extended sessions of the lege.
Extended sessions rules would be changed with Amendment 2

Con--With the current setup working people who hold regular jobs can usually arrange to
be absent long enough to serve their districts for 60 days. If you extend those periods then
citizen-legislators may be ruled out.

You can read the pro-con on the UA Cooperative extension site I gave above.
.

I wonder how many of those voters will be legal vs dead voters. I'll have to check with ACORN.

Bravo to the LR powers that be who issued the moratorium on parking tickets in the vicinity. It sounds like someone in city government up there has some smarts.
Hubby and I will likely vote early down here too, but we passed on the opportunity today. Didn't even turn into the parking lot when we saw how full it was.

Strange, any time you have folks being paid to fill in the blanks, whether it's ACORN or the United States Census Bureau, you're gonna have someone try to pull some shenanigans. Word is the problems were caught by ACORN's quality control people and reported to the appropriate authorities.
Get a grip, man. Fifty years ago, I guess you would have freaked out to see anyone with a clerical collar or habit at your local polling place.
But if you do see Mickey, Donald, Daffy, Porky or any other Loonies -- and especially Scrooge McDuck, an ardent McCain supporter if ever there was one -- trying to vote, well, point them out to the sheriff.