With early voting in Florida starting today and a current rec list diary showing that there may be some confusion over just what the constitutional amendments mean, I thought it would be a good idea to post a guide. So I am.
Amendment No. 1 - Repeal of public campaign financing.
Fairly self-explanatory, a yes vote means that you'd like to repeal the current provision requiring candidates who agree to campaign finance limits to rely on public financing. Since it's pretty clear that the only way to avoid having Goldman Sachs, American Crossroads and the Koch Bros. own our elections is through public financing, I voted NO.
Amendment No. 2 - Homestead ad valorum tax credit for deployed military personnel.
Since I feel that members of our military have been asked to make enough sacrifices during our recent plunge into globe-conquering, I voted YES. Raise my property taxes to make up for the loss in revenue.
Amendment No. 4 - Referenda required for adoption and amendment of local government comprehensive land use plans.
Also known as the Hometown Democracy amendment, aims to bypass the standard developer/local politician bribery scenario for development by putting comprehensive land use plans up for a popular vote. I voted YES.
Amendment No. 5 - Standards for legislature to follow in legislative redistricting.
Seeks to do away with the ridiculous redistricting system currently fragmenting the state into gerrymandered districts. Whereas voters are supposed to choose the candidates, in the current redistricting system it's more like the candidates choose their voters. I voted YES.
Amendment No. 6 - Standards for legislature to follow in congressional redistricting.
Same as Amendment 5, but for congressional races. I voted YES.
Amendment No. 8 - Revision of class size requirements for public schools.
Seeks to make the current limit for class sizes into an average instead. Unless you favor a lower quality education system, the right vote is NO.
Not amendments, but we should all be voting to retain Jorge LaBarga and James EC Perry on the state Supreme Court. Right-wingers are campaigning to remove both because they rejected a lawsuit over Health Care Reform. I know very little about Florida Supreme Court justices, but that's enough for me.
One other thing...anyone in FL-07 should know that one candidate for the 7th Circuit Court is a graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent "University". That candidate is Scott Dupont. All I know about his opponent, Don Holmes, is that he did not attend or graduate from Pat Robertson's Regent "University". That is enough...Vote Holmes.
Hopefully this will be of some help to folks yet to vote in Florida. If you've already voted, then MAKE SOME F'N PHONE CALLS AND GOTV!