I dont think ballot refenda are a good idea

[BigDrawMan]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

[Rexer25]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

[BigDrawMan]

they do the circle thing with their pointing finger

[BigDrawMan]

they do the circle thing with their pointing finger

[SportsFan68]

Yes, they're a good idea. Coloradans love having stuff about the 1976 Olympics in their State Constitution for 25 years. We love passing amendments that are declared unconstitutional right out of the box, or at the Supreme Court after months and millions of dollars spent opposing and supporting them. I guess it's safe to say that what we really love are lawyers.

By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News

Call it it Colorado's love-hate relationship with its ballot: the thrill of having the power to change the state constitution and the aggravation of actually doing it.

Experts say the process of wading through long lists of confusing amendments can create crabby voters, predisposed to either not vote at all, vote for candidates but not issues or just vote "no" on everything. Although it's impossible to know how many Coloradans chose each of those paths, enough voted "no" to put the kibosh on much of the nation's longest and possibly most complex ballot.

"It's a strange phenomenon," said John Straayer, political science professor at Colorado State University. "On the one hand, we seem to have a public affinity for maintaining procedures that make direct democracy easy. But that's combined with a certain level of disgust and frustration over the ballot itself."

But even as Coloradans turned thumbs down to most local change, a majority said "yes" to change on a national level, electing Democrat Barack Obama with more than 52 percent of the vote.

That's Election-Day apples and oranges, said Jon Krosnick, a psychologist and Stanford University political science professor.

"When you vote for Barack Obama, you're not voting for specific change - you just don't like the way things are in a larger sense. Voting for change like that is saying, 'I trust someone else to bring about change,' rather than 'I will decide specifically what I want to do on this issue,' " he said.

Voters separate issues

But not everybody's into the automatic "no." People definitely do try to sort through the ballot, and the results reflect that, said Norman Provizer, political science professor at Metropolitan State College. He said some amendments packaged together by "no" campaigns - such as 47, 49 and 54 - might have been expected to all meet the same fate, but 47 and 49 fell, while 54 passed.

"I looked at those and thought, 'How does anyone make heads or tails out of this?' But voters manage to make distinctions," he said.

In troubled times, "no" is the safe choice: A crummy economy means voters are probably going to reject anything that affects their wallet. But voters reserved their biggest "no" for a measure that involved no taxes at all: Amendment 48, the so-called "personhood" measure, which would have defined life as beginning at conception.

"I think the 'no' campaign had credible messengers, and they were talking about this as a pretty scary change," said pollster Lori Weigel of Public Opinion Strategies. "When you have that kind of dynamic - far-reaching impact with far-reaching consequences - that stuck in people's heads."

The "unintended consequences" argument is usually one of the most effective tools by a "no" campaign, Weigel said, one that virtually every "no" coalition used this year.

Defaulting to status quo

Another loser was Amendment 51, a feel-good measure that would have increased the sales tax to fund programs for people with disabilities. Marijo Rymer, executive director of The ARC of Colorado, blamed the economy for its loss but said other factors were also at play.

"I think that the length of the ballot and the confusion over business and labor issues played a part in people voting 'no' on things that they otherwise might not have," she said.

Referenda that had appeal early on tend to gather more and more "nos" as they roll toward election day, Krosnick said.

"As the drawbacks of any proposition surface," he said, "the idea of sticking with the status quo appeals to people. If you're not sure, don't do it."

[Jeemie]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

Why wouldn't you be able to?

[Rexer25]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

Why wouldn't you be able to?

I was going to come back with a smart-ass response, but I can't even come up with a good answer to your question, Jeemie.

[nitrah55]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

Why wouldn't you be able to?

Isn't this why coins have two sides?

[Rexer25]

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

Why wouldn't you be able to?

Isn't this why coins have two sides?

Thanks, nitrah.

[Beebs52]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

[Jeemie]

How do you eenymeenymineymoe a For/Against question?

Why wouldn't you be able to?

Isn't this why coins have two sides?

You might not have a coin.

You usually will have a finger and the ability to speak (and you don't even need those!)

[MarleysGh0st]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

And notice, ladies and gentlemen, that the incredible Ballot Refenda is performing without a net!

[Beebs52]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

And notice, ladies and gentlemen, that the incredible Ballot Refenda is performing without a net!

What grace! What verve!

Oops. What a broken neck. Oh well.

[minimetoo26]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

Do we pronounce the "T", or is it Frenchified? Balloh Refendah?

[Beebs52]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

Do we pronounce the "T", or is it Frenchified? Balloh Refendah?

It's probably a truncated Ballota Refenda. Or, perhaps an elided word there. Like Blota, or Blotto.

[Rexer25]

after watching people vote for 13 hours, it scares me to put lawmaking into the hands of people who are in a hurry to leave/see the question for the first time/arent facile in English/eenymeenymineymoe it.

Speaking of "facile in English," what the hell is a "refenda"? Is that some crazy cousin of the Flying Wallendas? Ballot Refenda, he balance isssoooes on hees het! He do!

Isn't Refenda the last name of the guy who used to do voiceovers on NFL Films? You know, the guy who coined the phrease "The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field". John Refenda?