In other, happier news, keeping track of ballot measures...

[conuly]

1. Florida voted to severely curtail felony disenfranchisement, potentially putting a million people back on the rolls.

2. Louisiana voted to disallow non-unanimous jury convictions.

3. Colorado voted to end prison slavery - and let's just call that what it is, shall we?

4. Missouri and Arkansas voted for higher minimum wages.

5. Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah voted for Medicaid expansion.

6. Massachusetts voted to uphold transgender rights.

7. Michigan voted for automatic voter registration.

Any other good news?

Comments

[hamimi_fk]

You mean aside from the other good news about some of the candidates? No, not particularly.

[julian]

Taniel lists some more: https://mobile.twitter.com/Taniel/status/1060199918701330437

[conuly]

Thanks :)

[kengr]

In Oregon we voted down a measure to "prohibit public funds being used for abortions" (ie if you were stuck with Medicaid or the like, tough luck)

[conuly]

Close shave.

[wendelah1]

Definitely. Medicaid only covers abortions for women in 15 states as it is.

[aris_tgd]

We also voted to keep our sanctuary state status, and to expand the ways we can pay for low-income housing, and voted down some measures which would have lowered our tax revenue/made it harder to raise money. Pretty much a good time all around!

[conuly]

Though it does appear that you are the sole remaining state that allows for non-unanimous jury convictions. Get on that.

[aris_tgd]

... Yeah, but I was kind of hoping to keep this thread a catalogue of successes, since I thought that was the idea? If not that's okay too, but I'm much less likely to participate.

[conuly]

You actually are totally right, I just got caught up.

[cesy]

Thank you, that is indeed good news.

[conuly]

:)

[calimac]

This is the absence of a negative rather than a positive, but California firmly turned down a measure that would have gutted the gas tax and thus made it impossible to fix our aging roads.

[lilysea]

California firmly turned down a measure that would have gutted the gas tax

I was VERY pleased about that because of what it would have done to public library funding etc...

[greghousesgf]

yeah, I agree!

[conuly]

Still, we can count it.

[the_rck]

Michigan also passed a measure taking redistricting permanently out of the hands of the legislature. Both that and the voting access measure are amendments to the state constitution, and both passed pretty overwhelmingly. 61% for the redistricting and almost 70% for the voting access.

Both amendments have now completed the process for becoming part of the state constitution, and state laws that contradict them have instantly become unconstitutional. We've got (I think) three ways to amend the state constitution. The first is for the legislature to pass and proposal and put it on the ballot. The second requires a petition drive with a certain number of signatures from registered voters and then putting that on the ballot. The third requires a constitutional convention.

The voting access actually includes a longish list of different things-- automatic registration, election day registration at the polls, absentee voting as an option for anyone who wants it (previously, it had been extremely restricted). It adds a requirement for post-election audits.

There's a bit that says "Simultaneously register to vote with proof of residency and obtain a ballot during the 2-week
period prior to an election, up to and including Election Day." That sounds to me like an option for early voting as well as for last minute registration.

It will also give us back the option for straight ticket voting which is a big deal for elections with a lot of different things to vote on. Locally, we use scantron ballots, and filling in all the boxes completely takes time.

I was a little surprised by how overwhelming the support was for the voting access amendment. I'm not used to seeing anything on the ballot get those sorts of numbers.

[isis]

Colorado did the same redistricting thing, making an independent commission (actually two, one for federal congressional districts and one for state legislative districts) and it also passed overwhelmingly.

[conuly]

No more gerrymandering? Let's call this a red letter day.

[hudebnik]

Not your typical social-justice result, but Flordia outlawed greyhound racing by ballot initiative. Two thirds of the nation's dog-racing tracks are in Florida, and they'll all shut down by December 2020.

This is in most ways a good thing, but it means thousands of retired racing greyhounds (and those being born today who were destined for the track) will need homes in a hurry. If you were considering adopting a greyhound (we're on our sixth and seventh at present), 2019-2020 would be a really good time to do it. There are local greyhound adoption agencies all over the country.

Twenty or thirty years ago, most retired racing greyhounds were euthanized as soon as they were no longer making money at the track. Cooperation between tracks and adoption agencies built up a smoothly functioning pipeline that currently puts 98% of track retirees into foster or adopted homes. That pipeline will have to work overtime in the next two years, and longer if other states also outlaw greyhound racing.

[greghousesgf]

a friend of mine has a couple of retired greyhounds as pets and they're real sweeties. If you want a dog I highly recommend getting one.

[conuly]

Do greyhounds, as a rule, get along well with cats/chihuahas/toy poodles?

[hudebnik]

Adoption groups routinely test their dogs for reactions to cats and small dogs. If you tell the adoption group what you've got, they'll pick a dog that they think is safe for your situation.

Many greyhounds live with cats, and usually the cat rules the roost. You might be better off with a male than a female: in my experience the males are more easygoing and less competitive. But your adoption group will know more than I do.

Our first greyhound met the chihuahua next door and was quite intimidated -- he hid behind my legs as though hoping the chihuahua wouldn't see him. The first time he met a cat (to my knowledge), the cat was on its home turf. Our dog walked up wagging his tail and projecting "will you be my friend? will you be my friend?" The cat made clear that they were not going to be friends, whereupon the hound backpedalled through several rooms to the other end of the apartment with a hurt-feelings look on his face.

Around the corner from our house is a cat who's grown up with a dog in the house (a much more aggressive, barky dog than ours), so she didn't learn to fear dogs until later in life. Moongrrl (our elder hound) has met her and touched noses in a friendly manner a few times. Miss B. (the younger) has a higher prey drive, and didn't meet the cat until the latter had grown less dog-friendly, so they haven't met up close.

[tassosss]

Maryland voted to authorize same day voter registration on Election Day.

[conuly]

Yay!

[jo]

Didn't at least one state opt to legalize pot? That's always a positive move.

[conuly]

Well, unless you happen to hate the smell of marijuana even more than the smell of tobacco, in which case it's a "good for personal freedom, but I do wish people would use their freedom somewhere else" move.

[redsixwing]

Colorado declined to allow oil companies to sue the state government when they think their property values have been lowered. That was a trainwreck of an amendment and I'm very glad it failed.

On a small, personal note, one of my parents did not vote a straight R ticket, and that's a victory too.

[conuly]

That's two victories :)

[monanotlisa]

Thanks for the summary. Good to see. :)

[conuly]

:)

[zesty_pinto]

Did you get Washington's initiative to hold law enforcement more accountable? Very applaudable.

[conuly]

I did not!

[zesty_pinto]

Here's the link.

I have to admit, I came through this election not expecting much, and every time I read further into it, the more I find these little happy results.

[zesty_pinto]

Oh, one of my Georgian friends is utterly surprised that someone who became a politician because of Parkland (Lucy McBath) just won her election.

The irony is that the person she beat was the same person who beat Ossof two years earlier.

[conuly]

Yes, and apparently Kim Davis is out: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/kentucky-clerk-jailed-over-gay-marriage-licenses-loses-re-election-n933451

[zesty_pinto]

I know it would be petty as hell, but I would love it if he came into office to "Eye of the Tiger."

[jhetley]

Maine is set to have our first female governor.

[pwcorgigirl]

I live in Tennessee, where things didn't change except that 98,000 people age 18 to 29 voted early, compared to 12,800 in 2014 — a more than seven-fold increase. The data includes early voters and absentee voters, as of Nov. 1. Tennessee is now ranked 5th in the nation in turnout by young voters.

So there is hope for the future.

Fresh schadenfreude! Getcher fresh schadenfreude!

[siderea]

Were you aware that WI Gov Walker was voted out of office? And that he lost to a teacher? And that he's legally prevented from getting a recount, because of his law to prevent such things? Sir, I do believe this is your petard. And bonus: "Evers' win also means his running mate, Mandela Barnes, will become Wisconsin's first black lieutenant governor."

Re: Fresh schadenfreude! Getcher fresh schadenfreude!

[conuly]

That irony is so sweet.

[zesty_pinto]

I was just made aware that the Texas judge appointees got a hell of a lot more diverse.

[conuly]

yay!

[polydad.livejournal.com]

Here in Oregon, we passed a housing assistance bill, defeated four fascist-agenda bills (revoking our status as a sanctuary state, a "constitutional tax protection" that was a Coca Cola Tax Relief bill in disguise, etc.), and Portland passed another housing bill and PCEI, a landmark piece of voter-written law that sets up a business license fee on billion dollar corporations to fund environmental remediation in marginalized communities.

[polydad.livejournal.com]

"Voter written" did mean mostly Jo Ann Hardesty, who had been a state legislator and just got elected to city council (I helped), but was a 'common citizen' at the time.

[conuly]

Busy, busy!