What a mid-term US election ballot looks like

[Broomstick]

Since we do have non-US interest in US politics and elections around here, I thought it might be interesting for those who have never seen a US "mid-term" ballot to get an idea of what the typical US voter faces on election day. ("Mid-term", by the way, is a bit of misnomer - some elected offices, those of "representatives" or members of either the Federal or a State House, only have 2 year terms, others 4 or 6. In this case, mid-term to a large extent means we're not electing a PotUS)

I live in Northwest Indiana. That means our TV is grossly dominated by Chicago news stations and politics. The result is that often one can go to vote, look at the ballot, and say "Who the hell are these people?" because we've have nearly zero exposure to their campaign ads. Local newspapers are a better source of information, but fewer and fewer people read newspapers these days and, again, all the Chicago papers are sold alongside the local papers so many who are reading newspapers are still getting Chicago-dominated media and not local news. Local billboards do feature local politicians, so that is one way for candidates to get their names out although incumbents usually dominate those boards.

All is not lost, however - local papers DO publish who is on the ballot prior to election day. Here is an abbreviated Lake County, Indiana ballot for 2010, what I'll be voting on come Tuesday. I have cut it down to just my own district, the ones I will be voting on, the full county ballot is here. Also - the various political parties (you will notice there ARE more than just two) are usually indicated by letters. D=Democrat, R=Republican, L=Libertarian. I have added a few notes from my own research in a few places.

U.S. Senator
D - Brad Ellsworth
R - Dan Coats (this guy is a "carpet-bagger" - he set up a residence in order to be eligible for this office, but may never have actually lived there. In any case, it's very clear he moved into the area JUST to challenge Ellsworth. Pretty sure this guy is Tea Party)
L - Rebecca Sink-Burris
Jack Rooney (W/Independent)
Jim Miler (Write-In Candidate) ("Write in" means his name is not actually on the ballot, if you want to vote for him you must manually add his name to the ballot. That is, very much, a long shot but write in candidates do sometimes win. The one I remember most clearly was "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak, who won the 1989 Chicago Mayor Republican Primary candidate as a write in candidate which, as he said "with a name like Vrdolyak isn't easy" because misspelled names can be thrown out, and were. He ultimately lost to the current Mayor Richard M. Daley. Mr.Vrdolyak was recently released from jail after serving time for fraud, something that seems a bit of tradition among polticians in this area.)

Secretary of State
D - Vop Osili
R - Charlie White
L - Mike Wherry

Auditor of State
D - Sam Locke
R - Tim Berry
L - Eric Knipe
(I actually am equally dissatisfied with both the Dem and the Repub candidate here. Knipe, however, seems to running on nothing other than "I'm not them! Vote for me!")

Treasurer of State
D - Pete Buttigieg
R - Richard E. Mourdock

United States District 1
Representative
D - Peter J. Visclosky
R - Mark Leyva - (Definitely Tea Party, has some extreme views)
L - Jon Morris

State Senator
State senators serve 6 year terms. Mine is not up for re-election at this time, which is a pity 'cause I hate that bitch and would like an opportunity to vote against her. Of course, even if she was there's no guarantee I'd like the alternatives.

State Representative
District 3
D - Charlie Brown
L - John A. Schick Tea party and proud of it - some of his views make me spew

Judge of the Circuit Court - this is a state level court dealing with civil lawsuits, not criminal trials
D - George C. Paras (This guy has been reprimanded by the State Supreme Court in 2001 for mismangagement of client funds in private practice law and sued by the Federal IRS for back taxes due to improper use of tax deductions which is a bit complicated to explain here. He's a sleeze ball in my opinion)
R - William Fine

Prosecuting Attorney
31st Circuit
D - Bernard A. Carter
R - Douglas (Doug) Grimes

Clerk Of The Circuit Court
D - Mike Brown
This is called "running unopposed" - he's shoo-in, the election only a formality in his case 'cause apparently no one else wants the job.

County Auditor
D - Peggy Holinga Katona
Another unopposed candidate

County Treasurer
D - John E. Petalas
R - Jack D. Chavez

County Sheriff - Some government reformers want to abolish the sheriff's office as a "relic of the Wild West". However, in my township the sheriff is the ONLY police coverage we have. This holds true for numerous other communities in NW Indiana, despite it being one of the most urban parts of the state. There reformers seem to have no plan for police coverage for areas such as mine, much less for the more rural parts of the state.
D - John A. Buncich (rumors of kick back schemes between him and former Gary Mayor Scott King have never been proven)
R - Dan Bursac (I don't think a Republican has won a country-wide election for anything for like 70 years or more - it's an uphill battle.)

County Assessor
D - Carol Ann Seaton Oh. My. God - this one is amazing. Multiple simultaneous driver's licenses from both Indiana and Michigan, leading to an investigation from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from both states. In September an Indiana judge ruled she is not an Indiana resident and suspended her Indiana license(s). Both fraud and perjury are involved. Unclear ownership of the home she lives in (which, by the way, qualifies her for her county office because of residency requirements) leading to unpaid taxes and a criminal investigation - it's not even known if the legal owner is still alive or not. Possible forgery of signatures on legal and tax documents regarding property - SHE'S A MEMBER OF A PROPERTY TAX BOARD with, apparently, no legal ID to her name, possibly felonies, and uncertain residency. Ew.
R - Hank Adams This guy has experience being St. John's Township assessor, AND he comes without an ethical cloud.

County Commissioner
District 1
D - Roosevelt Allen Jr.

County Council Member - I actually don't know which district I live in. I'll find out on election day, I guess! Also, nearly impossible to find anything on these candidates as these are such low-profile races.
District 1
D - Michael C. Repay
R - Michael A. Gramhofer

District 2
D - Elsie Franklin

District 3
D - Jerome A. Prince

District 4
D - Thomas C. O'Donnell
R - Daniel Edward Dernulc
L - David Tyssen

District 5
D - Christine Cid
R - Daryle K.Tunis
L - Jeanine Kirpec

District 6
D - Ted F. Bilski
R - Ric Holtz
L - Ryan Stewart

District 7
D - Wendy Vandertuuk
R - Rick Niemeyer
L - Janice Glueckert

Calumet Township Assessor - I live in Calumet township. In many ways I favor abolishing township level government, but admittedly that would lead to other problems. However, we already have a COUNTY assessor and a few other duplicate offices, and this duplication serves little purpose as far as I can see, other than employing politicians)
D - Jacquelyn (Jackie) Y. Collins

Calumet Township Trustee
D - Mary Elgin Remarkable woman - former steelworker and union leader in the mills (not easy for a black woman to achieve that in an industry historically dominated by white males), defeated an incumbent last election, has made poor relief a priority, pro workers' rights. Downsized the township staff rather than raise taxes, which makes her almost Republican in behavior. Also reduced rent support for the poor. Are we sure this is a Democrat?
R - Willie (Faithful And True) Brown (While the "faithful and true" inset to the name was off-putting at first, this guy is making property tax restraint, flood control issues, better customer service at the trustee's office (lacking with Elgin) and prompt payment to landlords of country support for the poor (also lacking under Elgin) priorities, which are local issues I have some personal concern with.)

Calumet Township, Township Board Member (3)
D - Alex A. Cherry
D - Ron Matlock
D - Clorius L. Lay

Not included on this list is a proposition to make caps on property taxes part of the state constitution, and not "mere" law as they are now.

[Broomstick]

I realize, of course, that there may not be much to comment on here but I would be interested to know if anyone found this informative/educational/or at all interesting.

[Agent Sorchus]

I actually think that a lot of this is going to be more helpful for the first time voters than for those members that do not live in the us but are interested in the election.

[Gambler]

Now I understand what Darth Wong meant when he said you have to much democracy in the USA. I find it perplexing that in a country where not even 50% of the electorate turn up to vote, you get to vote on so many bureaucratic positions.
What happens if one of these elected bureacrats is incompetent? Can they somehow be fired, even though they are elected officials?
I wouldn't like to have Judges, Prosecutors and Sheriffs up for election. Also it can have some advantages it could turn into mob rule.

[General Zod]

Now I understand what Darth Wong meant when he said you have to much democracy in the USA. I find it perplexing that in a country where not even 50% of the electorate turn up to vote, you get to vote on so many bureaucratic positions.
What happens if one of these elected bureacrats is incompetent? Can they somehow be fired, even though they are elected officials?
I wouldn't like to have Judges, Prosecutors and Sheriffs up for election. Also it can have some advantages it could turn into mob rule.

There's plenty of instances of politicians being asked to resign when they're caught fucking up, but it has to be pretty spectacular and public. Unfortunately general incompetency isn't usually enough.

[Psychic_Sandwich]

Blimey. How are you supposed to keep all that straight? Is it truly necessary to elect officials to so many different posts?

[Marcus Aurelius]

I wouldn't like to have Judges, Prosecutors and Sheriffs up for election. Also it can have some advantages it could turn into mob rule.

Yes. I have never really understood why those positions are up for election in the US. In Finland and many other European countries bitch about how they now are supposed to vote on the EU parliament elections as well, but in general there are much less elected officials in Europe. The representatives in city councils and national parliaments are elected precisely because it is their job to choose officials like sheriffs and judges.

[Liberty]

You end up with a lot of people who don't know fuck about any of the local offices (assessor, judges, etc), and only know who they're voting for for the big offices (senate, US congress). Most people simply don't have the time to research all the lower offices. Sometimes they leave the other ones blank, sometimes they vote straight ticket, and sometimes they just randomly pick people (Let's see, Franklin or Dan...my dad's name is Dan...there we go, I'll pick him). This is highly problematic.

[Soontir C'boath]

I actually don't know which district I live in. I'll find out on election day, I guess! Also, nearly impossible to find anything on these candidates as these are such low-profile races.

I hate how there are different district numbers for judicial/assembly/senate positions in my state so I am always fond of being able to look them up in the state's voter information website. Checking Indiana, it looks like you have the same as well

As for New York, there are a couple high profile races and we have our own quiet ones too. Local races usually rely on just having their signs posted up at the local shops or maybe the rare volunteer on the streets handing out flyers. I have only seen a volunteer once and it wasn't even the part of Queens I live in to vote for that person. Frankly concise information on who these people are, are hard to come by even if it's a US Congressman. When there are like 20 congressional districts and bunches of assembly, senate, municipal court, and council districts in the city alone, the papers won't be spending too much ink on every single one of them if at all. When it comes time to vote for positions like the judges, I usually just vote for my party without knowing who they are because the only thing available is their bio which doesn't necessarily say anything relevant.

This year, the NYC Election office sent out "Voter Guides" to go along with the new electronic machines voters will have to use. It included information on the two city ballots but does not include information on state or even city candidates which is disappointing. But I do understand that the effort would be severely taxing as to decide what to put in.

Anywho, here's the offices on the ballot.
Legend: G-Green L-Libertarian Re- Rent Too Damn High A- Anti-Prohibition T- Tax Revolt F- Freedom I - Independence W - Working Families C- Conservatives

Note: Democrats are usually under the Independence (few Republicans do run) and Working Familes parties as well. On the other end, Republicans tend to be under the Conservative party. Yea, we have a lot of parties.

US Senate
D- Chuck Schumer
R- Jay Townsend - (A token candidate. Barely raised any money nor are there any real press about him.)
G- Colia Clark
L/A- Randy A Credico

US Senate Special Election - The seat Hillary Clinton vacated.
D- Kirsten E Gillibrand
R- Joseph J DioGuardi
G- Cecile A Lawrence
Re-Joseph Huff
A- Vivia Morgan
T- Bruce Blakeman

US Congressman- 7th District
D- Joseph Crowley
R- Kenneth A Reynolds
G- Anthony Gronowicz

Governor
D- Andrew M Cuomo - (Frankly, his popularity is more attributed to his father)
R/T- Carl P Paladino
G- Howie Hawkins
Re- Jimmy McMillan - (We all know him by now.)
L- Warren Redlich
A- Kristin M Davis - (The person involved in the Spitzer scandal. Vying to allow casinos and marajuana.)
F- Charles Barron

State Comptroller
D- Thomas P DiNapoli
R/I- Harry Wilson
G- Julia A Willebrand
L- John Gaetani

Attorney General
D- Eric T Schneiderman
R- Dan Donovan
L- Carl E Person
F- Ramon J Jimenez

Queens Surrogate Court
D- Peter J Kelly - (Who is this guy?)

Judge of the Civil Court Vote for 2 (There are only 2!)
D- Barry A Schwartz
D- Dennis Lebwohl

13th State Senator
D- Jose R Peralta
R- Richard La Salle

Assemblyman District 34
D- Michael G DenDekker

City #1 - Term Limits
Reduce from three to two the maximum number of consecutive full terms that can be served by elected city officials: and Make this change in term limits applicable only to those city officials who are first elected at or after the 2010 general election and; and Prohibit the City Council from altering the term limits of elected city officials then serving office. Shall this proposal be adopted?

(City Council had voted to allow a third term which is how Bloomberg managed to stay on)

City #2 - Elections and Government Administration
Disclosure of Independent Campaign Spending: Require public disclosure of expenditures made by entities and individuals independent from candidates to influence the outcome of a city election or referendum; Ballot Access: Generally reduce the number of petition signatures needed by candidates for city elective office to appear on a ballot; Voter Assistance and Campaign Finance Board: Merge voter assistance functions, including a reconstituted Voter Assistance Advisory Committee, into the Campaign Finance Board, and change when Campaign Finance Board member terms begin; Conflicts of interest Law: Require all public servants to receive conflicts of interest training, raise the maximum fine for a public servant who violates the City's conflicts of interest law, and allow the city to recover any benefits obtained from such violations; City Administrative Tribunals: Authorize the Mayor to direct the merger of administrative tribunals and adjudications into the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings and permit the Department of Consumer Affairs to adjudicate all violations issued by that department; City Reporting Requirements and Advisory Bodies: Create a commission to review requirements for reports and advisory bodies and waive the requirements, subject to City Council review, where the commission finds they are not of continuing value: and Map of Facility Siting: Include in the City's facilities siting map those transportation and waste management facilities operated by or for governmental entities, or by private entities that provide comparable services. Shall this proposal be adopted?

(If it's tl;dr for you, the skinny is 7 different items shoved into one vote. How fantastic is that?)

[aerius]

Holy fuck that's messy. Here in Canada, we've never had to vote for more than 3 different positions on any ballot in any election. For the Federal & Provincial election we vote for our representative in Parliament and that's it, one ballot, one "X", and it's done. For the local elections I had to vote for a Mayor, a Councillor, and a Trustee; bubble in 3 boxes and I'm done.

[Liberty]

Holy fuck that's messy. Here in Canada, we've never had to vote for more than 3 different positions on any ballot in any election. For the Federal & Provincial election we vote for our representative in Parliament and that's it, one ballot, one "X", and it's done. For the local elections I had to vote for a Mayor, a Councillor, and a Trustee; bubble in 3 boxes and I'm done.

What the fuck are you serious? That is SO different! The first time I voted, I was SO intimidated, because I knew I would have a million different races to vote on and for many of them I not only had no clue who the candidates were but I actually had no clue what the offices they were running for actually did!

[TimothyC]

Breakdown:
(R) - Republican
(D) - Democrat
(L) - Libertarian
(G) - Green
(S) - Socialist
(C/TP) - Conservative/Tea Party
(I) - Independent
(Inc) - Incumbent

Governor
John Kasich / Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor (R)
Ken Matesz / Lt. Gov. Margaret Ann Leech (L)
David L. Sargent II / Lt. Gov. Andrew C. Pfeifer (I) (WI)
Dennis S. Spisak / Lt. Gov. Anita Rios (G)
Ted Strickland / Lt. Gov. Yvette McGee Brown (D) (Inc)

Attorney General - This office seems to attract the most corrupt of Ohio politicians (from both sides)
Richard Cordray (D) (Inc)
Mike DeWine (R)
Marc Allan Feldman (L)
Robert M. Owens (TP)

Auditor
L. Michael Howard (L)
David Pepper (D)
Dave Yost (R)

Secretary of State - Note: The current office holder (Brunner )was the one who has been smacked down repeatedly for what amounts to allowing election fraud
Charles R. Earl (L)
Jon Husted (R)
Maryellen O'Shaughnessy (D)

Treasurer
Kevin L. Boyce (D) (Inc)
Matthew P. Cantrell (L)
Josh Mandel (R)

U.S. Senate
Eric W. Deaton (C)
Lee Fisher (D)
Daniel H. LaBotz (S)
Rob Portman (R)
Michael L. Pryce (I/TP)
Arthur T. Sullivan (I) (WI)


3rd District (U.S. Representative)
Joe Roberts (D)
Mike Turner (R) (Inc)

Montgomery Commission
Dan Foley (D) (Inc)
Jan Kelly (R)

Montgomery Auditor
Harry Bossey (R)
Karl L. Keith (D) (Inc)

3rd District Board Member
Mark Haverkos
Jeffrey J. Mims

Ohio Chief Justice
Eric Brown
Maureen O'Connor

Ohio Justice of Ohio Supreme Court
Judith Ann Lanzinger (Inc)
Mary Jane Trapp

Ohio Justice of Ohio Supreme Court
Paul E. Pfeifer (Inc)


2nd District Court of Appeals Judge (2/9/2011)
Mary E. Donovan (Inc)

2nd District Court of Appeals Judge (2/10/2011)
Mike Hall

2nd District Court of Appeals Judge (2/11/2011)
Mike Fain (Inc)

Montgomery Common Pleas Judge (1/3/2011)
Mary Wiseman (Inc)

Montgomery Common Pleas Judge (ending 1/4/2013)
Connie S. Price (Inc)

Montgomery Common Pleas Judge - Juvenile (1/5/201
Tony Capizzi (Inc)

Issue 9:
A replacement of a tax for the benefit of Montgomery County for the purpose of
HEALTH AND HUMAN OR SOCIAL SERVICES at a rate not exceeding 6.03 mills
for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to $0.603 for each one hundred dollars of
valuation, for a period of 8 years, commencing in 2010, first due in calendar year 2011.

[Questor]

I don't have my ballot (already mailed it), but I'd also like to point out to those that say "Make election day a national holiday!" that I have voted in at least two (and I think three) elections this year, and I think there were another two last year.

Granted, Federal elections only come every other year, but if you make the federal day a holiday, state and local might have to be too.

We vote often and on a lot of stuff. Especially in California.

[Marcus Aurelius]

What the fuck are you serious? That is SO different! The first time I voted, I was SO intimidated, because I knew I would have a million different races to vote on and for many of them I not only had no clue who the candidates were but I actually had no clue what the offices they were running for actually did!

In Finland we usually vote just for one person at the time and it's the same in most European countries. This is a typical Finnish ballot booth:



The number and name of the candidates are printed on the wall and you write down the number on the ballot inside the circle. You can of course find out the number in advance from media and advertisements if you want. The print on the wall is just to for those people who either decide in the ballot booth or are too lazy to find out the number of their candidate in advance. Of course this is made possible by the proportional voting system. There are a lot of people, but you only vote for one and typically only for one position. The only exceptions are when there is a popular vote for some issue, but those are not very common in Finland.

[Zed]

I don't have my ballot (already mailed it), but I'd also like to point out to those that say "Make election day a national holiday!" that I have voted in at least two (and I think three) elections this year, and I think there were another two last year.

Have elections on Sundays. Problem solved.

[Questor]

Found my 4 page sample ballot online (Thank God for PDF!) (I'm going to summarize some local stuff).

STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Governor
Vote for One
JERRY BROWN
Democratic
Attorney General of California

CHELENE NIGHTINGALE
American Independent
Business Owner

CARLOS ALVAREZ
Peace and Freedom
Retail Worker

LAURA WELLS
Green
Financial Systems Consultant

MEG WHITMAN
Republican
Businesswoman

DALE F. OGDEN
Libertarian
Business Consultant/Actuary

Lieutenant Governor
Vote for One
PAMELA J. BROWN
Libertarian
Economics Professor

GAVIN NEWSOM
Democratic
Mayor, City and County of San Francisco

ABEL MALDONADO
Republican
Senator/Businessman/Farmer

JAMES 'JIMI' CASTILLO
Green
Cultural Spiritual Advisor

C.T. WEBER
Peace and Freedom
Retired Government Analyst

JIM KING
American Independant
Real Estate Broker

Secretary of State
Vote for One
MERTON D. SHORT
American Independent
Aviator

ANN MENASCHE
Green
Civil Rights Attorney

DAMON DUNN
Republican
Small Business Owner

CHRISTINA TOBIN
Libertarian
Voting Rights Advocate

MARYLOU CABRAL
Peace and Freedom
Community Volunteer

DEBRA BOWEN
Democratic
Secretary of State

Controller
Vote for One
ANDREW "ANDY" FAVOR
Libertarian
Certified Public Accountant

TONY STRICKLAND
Republican
State Senator/Businessman

KAREN MARTINEZ
Peace and Freedom
Retired

JOHN CHIANG
Democratic
Controller

LAWRENCE G. BELIZ
American Independent
Independent Businessman

ROSS D. FRANKEL
Green
Accountant

Treasurer
Vote for One
MIMI WALTERS
Republican
Businesswoman

BILL LOCKYER
Democratic
California State Treasurer

ROBERT LAUTEN
American Independent

DEBRA L. REIGER
Peace and Freedom
Retired Technology Manager

EDWARD M. TEYSSIER
Libertarian
Business Owner/Attorney

CHARLES "KIT" CRITTENDEN
Green
Retired Professor

Attorney General
Vote for One
PETER ALLEN
Green
Environmental Energy Attorney

KAMALA D. HARRIS
Democratic
District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco

TIMOTHY J. HANNAN
Libertarian
Attorney/Arbitrator/Mediator

DIANE BEALL TEMPLIN
American Independent
Attorney/RE Broker

STEVE COOLEY
Republican
District Attorney, County of Los Angeles

ROBERT J. EVANS
Peace and Freedom
Criminal Defense Lawyer

Insurance Commissioner
Vote for One
MIKE VILLINES
Republican
Businessman/State Assemblyman

CLAY PEDERSEN
American Independent
Retail Manager

DINA JOSEPHINE PADILLA
Peace and Freedom
Injured Worker Consultant

RICHARD S. BRONSTEIN
Libertarian
Licensed Insurance Broker

WILLIAM BALDERSTON
Green
Teacher/Union Organizer

DAVE JONES
Democratic
Member, California State Assembly

Member, State Board of Equalization 3rd District
Vote for One
MARY LOU FINLEY
Peace and Freedom
Special Education Assistant

MICHELLE STEEL
Republican
Member, Board of Equalization

JERRY L. DIXON
Libertarian
Certified Public Accountant

MARY CHRISTIAN HEISING
Democratic
Retired Businesswoman

TERRI LUSSENHEIDE
American Independent
Home School Teacher

UNITED STATES SENATOR
Vote for One
MARSHA FEINLAND
Peace and Freedom
Retired Teacher

CARLY FIORINA
Republican
Business Executive

EDWARD C. NOONAN
American Independent
Computer Store Owner

DUANE ROBERTS
Green
Community Volunteer

BARBARA BOXER
Democratic
United States Senator

GAIL K. LIGHTFOOT
Libertarian
Retired Nurse

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE
48th District
Vote for One
MIKE BINKLEY
Libertarian
Author

JOHN CAMPBELL
Republican
U.S. Representative, 48th District

BETH KROM
Democratic
Irvine City Councilmember

MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY
70th District
Vote for One
DEBORAH THARP
Libertarian
Student/Mother

DONALD P. (DON) WAGNER
Republican
Trustee, South Orange County Community College District

MELISSA FOX
Democratic
Small Business Attorney

JUDICIAL
Vote yes or no for each office
For Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
For Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall Chief Justice TANI G. CANTIL-SAKAUYE be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court shall Associate Justice MING W. CHIN be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court shall Associate Justice CARLOS R. MORENO be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 1
For Presiding Justice of the Appellate Court shall Presiding Justice JUDITH D. MCCONNELL be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 2
For Presiding Justice of the Appellate Court shall Presiding Justice MANUEL A. RAMIREZ be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 2
For Associate Justice of the Appellate Court shall Associate Justice CAROL D. CODRINGTON be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 3
For Presiding Justice of the Appellate Court shall Presiding Justice DAVID G. SILLS be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 3
For Associate Justice of the Appellate Court shall Associate Justice WILLIAM W. BEDSWORTH be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

For Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 3
For Associate Justice of the Appellate Court shall Associate Justice EILEEN C. MOORE be elected to the office for the term provided by law?

Superintendent of Public Instruction
Vote for One
LARRY ACEVES
Retired School Superintendent

TOM TORLAKSON
Teacher/California Legislator

(Here's one place where I'm going to summarize. There are 3 governing board member seats for the local community college districts open, with two candidates each. There are also three candidates for school board (You can vote for two).)

(The next section is for county offices, with just the Treasurer-Tax Collector up.)

(This section is for city offices, with mayor and two city council seats up.)

(This is the section for the water district. Three directorships up.)

(Here come the props...)

MEASURES SUBMITTED TO THE VOTERS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
19 - LEGALIZES MARIJUANA UNDER CALIFORNIA BUT NOT FEDERAL LAW. PERMITS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO REGULATE AND TAX COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND SALE OF MARIJUANA.
INITIATIVE STATUTE.
Allows people 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use. Fiscal Impact: Depending on federal, state, and local government actions, potential increased tax and fee revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually and potential correctional savings of several tens of millions of dollars annually.

20 - REDISTRICTING OF CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Removes elected representatives from process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to recently-authorized 14-member redistricting commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party. Fiscal Impact: No significant net change in state redistricting costs.

21- ESTABLISHES $18 ANNUAL VEHICLE LICENSE SURCHARGE TO HELP FUND STATE PARKS AND WILDLIFE PROGRAMS. GRANTS SURCHARGED VEHICLES FREE ADMISSION TO ALL STATE PARKS.
INITIATIVE STATUTE.
Exempts commercial vehicles, trailers and trailer coaches from the surcharge. Fiscal Impact: Annual increase to state revenues of $500 million from surcharge on vehicle registrations. After offsetting some existing funding sources, these revenues would provide at least $250 million more annually for state parks and wildlife conservation.

22 - PROHIBITS THE STATE FROM BORROWING OR TAKING FUNDS USED FOR TRANSPORTATION, REDEVELOPMENT, OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROJECTS AND SERVICES.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Prohibits State, even during severe fiscal hardship, from delaying distribution of tax revenues for these purposes. Fiscal Impact: Decreased state General Fund spending and/or increased state revenues, probably in the range of $1 billion to several billions of dollars annually. Comparable increases in funding for state and local transportation programs and local redevelopment.

23 - SUSPENDS IMPLEMENTATION OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL LAW (AB 32) REQUIRING MAJOR SOURCES OF EMISSIONS TO REPORT AND REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING, UNTIL UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO 5.5 PERCENT OR LESS FOR FULL YEAR.
INITIATIVE STATUTE.
Fiscal Impact: Likely modest net increase in overall economic activity in the state from suspension of greenhouse gases regulatory activity, resulting in a potentially significant net increase in state and local revenues.

24 - REPEALS RECENT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD ALLOW BUSINESSES TO LOWER THEIR TAX LIABILITY.

INITIATIVE STATUTE.
Fiscal Impact: Increased state revenues of about $1.3 billion each year by 2012-13 from higher taxes paid by some businesses. Smaller increases in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

25 - CHANGES LEGISLATIVE VOTE REQUIREMENT TO PASS BUDGET AND BUDGET-RELATED LEGISLATION FROM TWO-THIRDS TO A SIMPLE MAJORITY. RETAINS TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIREMENT FOR TAXES.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Legislature permanently forfeits daily salary and expenses until budget bill passes. Fiscal Impact: In some years, the contents of the state budget could be changed due to the lower legislative vote requirement in this measure. The extent of changes would depend on the Legislature’s future actions.

26 - REQUIRES THAT CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL FEES BE APPROVED BY TWO-THIRDS VOTE. FEES INCLUDE THOSE THAT ADDRESS ADVERSE IMPACTS ON SOCIETY OR THE ENVIRONMENT CAUSED BY THE FEE-PAYER'S BUSINESS.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Fiscal Impact: Depending on decisions by governing bodies and voters, decreased state and local government revenues and spending (up to billions of dollars annually). Increased transportation spending and state General Fund costs ($1 billion annually).

27 - ELIMINATES STATE COMMISSION ON REDISTRICTING. CONSOLIDATES AUTHORITY FOR REDISTRICTING WITH ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE.
Eliminates 14-member redistricting commission. Consolidates authority for establishing state Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization districts with elected representatives who draw congressional districts. Fiscal Impact: Possible reduction of state redistricting costs of around $1 million over the next year. Likely reduction of these costs of a few million dollars once every ten years beginning in 2020.

(I'm leaving the city stuff out for brevity.)

[aerius]

Holy fuck that's messy. Here in Canada, we've never had to vote for more than 3 different positions on any ballot in any election. For the Federal & Provincial election we vote for our representative in Parliament and that's it, one ballot, one "X", and it's done. For the local elections I had to vote for a Mayor, a Councillor, and a Trustee; bubble in 3 boxes and I'm done.

What the fuck are you serious? That is SO different! The first time I voted, I was SO intimidated, because I knew I would have a million different races to vote on and for many of them I not only had no clue who the candidates were but I actually had no clue what the offices they were running for actually did!

Yup, that's all there is to it up here in Canada, pretty simple isn't it? I think there was one time when we had to vote on the amalgamation of the city I live in, that was over 10 years ago when I first became eligible for voting so I don't remember it that clearly.

Getting back on topic, I'd heard that the US system was a bit messy since there's more positions up for grabs, but I didn't think there were this many and that they'd all be going up for election at the same time, that's just madness. No wonder people get confused and intimidated when they go to vote. Those jokes I've heard about electing a "Chief Dog Catcher" don't seem as far from the truth as I thought.

[Psychic_Sandwich]

What the fuck are you serious? That is SO different! The first time I voted, I was SO intimidated, because I knew I would have a million different races to vote on and for many of them I not only had no clue who the candidates were but I actually had no clue what the offices they were running for actually did!

You'd be astounded by a British ballot paper, then. This is for a general election:



The largest number of those I've ever had to cast at one time is two; one for the general election and one for the European election. Both were exactly the same format, and the question that is effectively asked is 'who do you want to be your MP?' The complexity of what's in the OP boggles my mind.

[Alyeska]

When it comes to voting, there is the following.

Local
State
Federal


Each has their own votes involved. Federal will have the President every 4 years, Representatives every 2 years, and the Senators alternating on a 6 year cycle per senator. So your voting for your representative every 2 years. Your voting for a senator two out of every three elections. And the President is voted on every other election.

State is a little different. You also vote on your state legislature. State Representatives, State Senators. And of course the Governor. So the state level is going to look very similar to the federal level. But on top of that some states have you electing the State Supreme Court justices. The Attorney General, etc. So often times the state level has twice as many choices.

Then you have the local level. Thats city and county. If you live in the city, you vote on Mayor, clerk, often times the police chief, District/County Attorney. Fire Chief. City Board. City Court. And then you also get a vote on the County level (people outside the city only get to vote on the county level). More justices, sheriff, etc.

Whats really annoying is a lot of these elections are party driven. So the local Sheriff election has to go through the primaries first. One year there was a heated Sheriff election that was important. Except every single candidate was on the Republican ticket. I was forced to vote in the GOP primary just to make sure the wackjob didn't get elected Sheriff.

[Broomstick]

Now I understand what Darth Wong meant when he said you have to much democracy in the USA. I find it perplexing that in a country where not even 50% of the electorate turn up to vote, you get to vote on so many bureaucratic positions.
What happens if one of these elected bureacrats is incompetent? Can they somehow be fired, even though they are elected officials?

Elected officials can be recalled, but it takes a special vote, after which there will usually be a special election to replace the person - Arnold Schwarzenegger was first elected governor of California after the prior governor was recalled by special vote, so there's an example many might be familiar with. I believe the recall of Gray Davis and election of Schwarzenegger occurred on the same day, presumably the same ballot. Recalls aren't very common, there's quite some process to go through.

Politicians can be pressured to resign, but that doesn't always work (see Rod Blagoevich, former governor of Illinois, who was urged to resign by several parties prior to his conviction on criminal charges).

Around here, the most common way for an elected official to lose office mid-term might well be going to jail - a couple weeks ago the mayor of East Chicago (a separate city from just Chicago) went to jail on Federal charges. Removing an elected official in that manner is also a bit of a process to go through.

I wouldn't like to have Judges, Prosecutors and Sheriffs up for election. Also it can have some advantages it could turn into mob rule.

Judges and prosecutors aren't always up for election, that varies from location to location. Elections of sheriffs goes back to frontier days, when the sheriff might simply be the guy everyone else picked to deal with crooks and attacking natives.

[Broomstick]

Blimey. How are you supposed to keep all that straight? Is it truly necessary to elect officials to so many different posts?

in 2008, with a presidential election, the ballot was easily twice as long. The one I posted in the OP is considered a short ballot by US standards.

I actually wrote down who I'm voting for on a piece of paper - that's one of things the prompted me to open this thread, I know our system is unusual compared to that of other countries.

Sometimes people just pay attention to one or two races and vote straight party on the rest. Some just vote straight party. I'm sure some people pick at random. Generally, it's the retired who spend the most time researching, which probably has something to do with certain elder issues (such as social security and Medicare) being so untouchable - they're hugely important to those who actually vote and actually pay attention to who they're voting for. Another category are those like me, who are well educated and give a damn, but un/underemployed and thus have time to do the research. The internet has made doing this MUCH easier - in the old days you'd have to go to the local library and dig through old newpaper and magazine articles.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Washington State and Oregon operate essentially on 100% vote-by-mail system where everyone receives a ballot a month before the election and can mail it back or turn it in at will, up to the date of the election (postmarked), with no polling places. My ballot was double-sized and each side was about the size of two normal sheets of paper. This nonetheless is still advantageous since voting can be done in the privacy of home and the rather long ballot's options can be studied in detail while voting on a lot of obscure positions, and it coincidentally means that even for an off-year election with no presidential race to draw people in that Washington State will have a voter participation level of about 67% for this election. I can reproduce the options, here, by copying them from a personalized "this is what your ballot will look like" with all the races you are eligible to vote in (by entering your name and birthdate on the website) that the Secretary of State's website provides (the Washington State SecState, that is, who is in charge of handling elections), so here they are:


State Measures
View all
Initiative Measure 1053
Concerning tax and fee increases imposed by state government.
Initiative Measure 1082
Concerning industrial insurance.
Initiative Measure 1098
Concerning establishing a state income tax and reducing other taxes.
Initiative Measure 1100
Concerning liquor (beer, wine and spirits).
Initiative Measure 1105
Concerning liquor (beer, wine and spirits).
Initiative Measure 1107
Concerns reversing certain 2010 amendments to state tax laws.
Referendum Bill 52
Concerning authorizing and funding bonds for energy efficiency projects in schools.
Senate Joint Resolution 8225
Concerns the limitation on state debt.
Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220
Concerning denying bail for persons charged with certain criminal offenses.
Federal
United States
U.S. Senator (View all)
(Partisan Office, 6-year term)
Patty Murray
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Dino Rossi
(Prefers Republican Party)
Congressional
3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
U.S. Representative (View all)
(Partisan Office, 2-year term)
Denny Heck
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Jaime Herrera
(Prefers Republican Party)
Legislative
Legislative District 49
State Representative Pos. 1 (View all)
(Partisan Office, 2-year term)
Jim Jacks
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Bill Cismar
(Prefers Republican Party)
State Representative Pos. 2 (View all)
(Partisan Office, 2-year term)
Jim Moeller
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Craig Riley
(Prefers Republican Party)
County
COUNTY
COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT NO. 3
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Steve Stuart
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Alan Svehaug
(Prefers Republican Party)
COUNTY ASSESSOR
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Janet Seekins
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Peter Van Nortwick
(Prefers Republican Party)
COUNTY AUDITOR
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Greg Kimsey
(Prefers Republican Party)
COUNTY CLERK
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Scott Weber
(Prefers Republican Party)
Sherry Parker
(Prefers Democratic Party)
COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Tony Golik
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Brent D. Boger
(Prefers Republican Party)
COUNTY SHERIFF
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Garry E. Lucas
(Prefers GOP Party)
Timothy L. Shotwell
(Prefers Democratic Party)
COUNTY TREASURER
(Partisan Office, 4-year term)
Doug Lasher
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Mike Appel
(Prefers Republican Party)
Judicial
Supreme Court
Justice Position 1 (View all)
(Nonpartisan Office, 6-year term)
Jim Johnson
Justice Position 5 (View all)
(Nonpartisan Office, 6-year term)
Barbara Madsen
Justice Position 6 (View all)
(Nonpartisan Office, 6-year term)
Richard B. Sanders
Charlie Wiggins
Court of Appeals, Division 2, District 3
Judge Position 2 (View all)
(Nonpartisan Office, 6-year term)
Jill M. Johanson
DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 1
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year term)
Vernon L. Schreiber
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 2
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year term)
James P. Swanger
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 3
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year term)
Darvin J. Zimmerman
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 4
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year term)
Sonya Langsdorf
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 5
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year short and full term)
Kelli E. Osler
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPARTMENT NO. 6
(Nonpartisan Office, 4-year term)
John P. Hagensen
CLARK PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT NO. 2
(Nonpartisan Office, 6-year term)
Nancy Barnes
Mike Lyons

[RedImperator]

New Jersey must have some of the simplest ballots in the country. We don't elect any state executive officials except the governor and lieutenant governor; frankly, it always struck me as weird that other states do. In Delaware last election I saw signs for insurance commissioner. How the hell is anyone supposed to make an informed decision for state insurance commissioner?

[Kyler]

U.S. Senator
D - Brad Ellsworth
R - Dan Coats (this guy is a "carpet-bagger" - he set up a residence in order to be eligible for this office, but may never have actually lived there. In any case, it's very clear he moved into the area JUST to challenge Ellsworth. Pretty sure this guy is Tea Party)
L - Rebecca Sink-Burris

Broomstick, Dan Coats is not a member of the Tea Party as far as I know. What many Republican's don't realize is that Dan is actually a very moderate Republican that has voted with democrats on occasions including gun control. Lets not forget he worked as lobbyist after he left office as a member of the senate. You are also correct that he did relocated to IN to run, he is very unlikely to support IN for anything and do what ever the heads of the Republican Party want him to do.

I have known Brad Ellsworth for years, he was a volunteer leader in a local high school community group I was part of. He also did a great job as our sheriff. While I don't think Brad is going to win, it is too bad because he is a better man than Dan Coats.

Thanks for posting the ballot info. I know the first time I voted I was overwhelmed with all the races that I was not even aware of.

[mr friendly guy]

Australia's lower house ballot paper is much simpler. However the Senate our upper house is had more candidates (in this years election) than the example Broomstick gave. We also have a preferential voting system so you either just number 1 for one party and then the preferences are counted as per what the party prefers or you can number all, what was it 31 parties or something and have it counted how you like. Needless to say I need the latter because I am a glutton for punishment.