Down Hyar In Mississippi, 2011 Election Edition
Yes, this is really Mississippi’s flag, and yes, it consists of a Confederate battle flag disguised as something completely different by a couple colorful stripes.
We had a little voting shindig down hyar in Mississippi yesterday. I don’t know if you big city folks had one, but we sure did.
Actually I know you did, I just wanted to establish a bit of atmosphere coming into the blog.
We elected our lieutenant governor to the position of governor. A Republican of course. I’m just hoping he doesn’t turn all Tea Party on us and start killing off Medicaid recipients.
Initiative 26, the anti-abortion, “anti-a bunch of other hidden things” ballot measure did not pass. 56% voted against it. It looks like we get to enjoy birth control and in vitro fertilization for a bit longer. I was utterly astonished by this sudden display of common sense.
We also passed an initiative requiring a government issued photo ID in order to vote. The big push behind this one was some half-baked talking point saying it would save the state money. They didn’t spend much time on voter fraud. They just presented it as an economic issue.
Then, we passed an initiative that forbids the government from using eminent domain to seize private property and turn it over to private entities for development. On one hand, this is great news for poor folks that live in the path of proposed highways, pipelines, and fracking sites. On the other hand, it could be a preemptive way of chasing any hopes of a high-speed rail system out of the state. I can see big oil paying Grandma twice as much to refuse to sell her acreage in the neighboring county for development.
It was interesting to see the number of Democrats that got voted in this year at the local level. But then, folks are known to run as Democrats just to be able to run against the Republican incumbent. For the most part, there is no discernible difference between D’s and R’s down here.
Well, that’s the scoop on our elections. How did yours go?
Final numbers on NO on 26 was 58%. The one I’m really worried about is the agricultural person- she’s a lobbyist for big meat industries. So, we are probably looking at alot of deregulation in that area.
I really appreciate the update.
Reelected Beshear.
I guess we can look forward to 4 more years of a balanced budget and no need to bust Public employee unions.
My main concern in Florida right now….the republicans here are messing with our constitutional rights to vote.
Dem urges ‘vote from home’
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, appeared on liberal commentator Roland Martin’s television show to discuss her plan to get around Florida’s controversial new voting law.
Wilson wants people to vote absentee, because that does not require a state identification card. “We’re not calling it ‘absentee ballots,’ because people don’t like that,” she said on the program, which airs on TV One. “So, it’s ‘vote from home.’ And we have a postcard that you can mail today to be placed on the list to get an absentee ballot when it’s time for them to be released.”
Wilson’s office says you’ll hear more from her as she is “ramping up her national TV and radio interviews, with a specific focus on Republican-led voter suppression in FL.”
The Florida law reduces the number of days of early voting from 14 to eight; requires voters who move from county-to-county and who update their addresses at the polls to cast provisional ballots; requires third-party groups that register voters to submit forms within 48 hours or face penalties; and reduces the validity of voters’ signatures on initiative petitions from four years to two.
Critics say the changes were designed to suppress Democratic turnout in a year when President Barack Obama might need a victory in Florida to secure his re-election.
Rick Scott is being sued for vote suppression ….http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/03/2249778/aclu-sues-rick-scott-to-stop-voter.html
What an evil man! Sick and so tired of being attack by GOP and their sidekick tea partiers. Its getting so hard to not hate them but forgive them every time they slap me in the face!
Here in Washington, we voted to close down all the state-run liquor stores and put booze in Safeway and Costco.
That was the headline news here in he great Northwest.
Oh, and the city of Lynnwood voted NO on the eliminate-the-mayor proposal.