Secret Primary
Apparently the state of California will be having an election on June 3rd. This seems a bit strange, since we just had a primary election back in February and will be having another election in November. Three elections in one year? It seems inefficient.
That being said, the election in June is important. No candidates are on the ballot, just proposed constitutional amendments regarding eminent domain. California has not yet passed laws to prohibit the government from seizing property for private use, so a constitutional amendment to do so would be a very good thing. If you're a California resident and believe in property rights, you should vote to end eminent domain abuse in June.
However, in addition to the peculiar timing of this election there is something else funny going on. There are actually two amendments on the ballot. The better one, proposition 98, creates much greater protections for property rights; however, even proposition 99 provides some additional protection. The problem is that proposition 99 contains a provision that nullifies proposition 98 if they both pass but proposition 99 gets more votes. This creates a dilemma for the advocate of property rights. If I vote for both propositions and they both pass, but prop 99 gets more votes, which is quite plausible since it will possible pick up the votes of people who don't want to go quite as far as prop 98, then prop 98 will be nullified and by voting for prop 99 I will have contributed to that. On the other hand, if I vote against prop 99 and prop 98 loses anyway, then we end up with no additional protections and I will have contributed to that as well by voting against prop 99. Although I clearly should vote for prop 98, however I vote on prop 99 there is a scenario in which I could end up wishing I had voted the other way. This is very sneaky of the writers of prop 99. There was a measure on the ballot a couple years ago that would have fixed the eminent domain problem in California but did not pass, possibly because some voters thought its protections were too great-- so the possibility that prop 99 will get more votes than prop 98 is very real.
I'm not sure what to do. I think I will probably vote for 98 and against 99. At least that way if they both fail everyone will know they have failed and it will provide the opportunity to reform eminent domain in a future election. If prop 98 fails and 99 passes, people will be left with the idea that eminent domain has been reformed and there will be less impetus for true reform in the future.
That being said, the election in June is important. No candidates are on the ballot, just proposed constitutional amendments regarding eminent domain. California has not yet passed laws to prohibit the government from seizing property for private use, so a constitutional amendment to do so would be a very good thing. If you're a California resident and believe in property rights, you should vote to end eminent domain abuse in June.
However, in addition to the peculiar timing of this election there is something else funny going on. There are actually two amendments on the ballot. The better one, proposition 98, creates much greater protections for property rights; however, even proposition 99 provides some additional protection. The problem is that proposition 99 contains a provision that nullifies proposition 98 if they both pass but proposition 99 gets more votes. This creates a dilemma for the advocate of property rights. If I vote for both propositions and they both pass, but prop 99 gets more votes, which is quite plausible since it will possible pick up the votes of people who don't want to go quite as far as prop 98, then prop 98 will be nullified and by voting for prop 99 I will have contributed to that. On the other hand, if I vote against prop 99 and prop 98 loses anyway, then we end up with no additional protections and I will have contributed to that as well by voting against prop 99. Although I clearly should vote for prop 98, however I vote on prop 99 there is a scenario in which I could end up wishing I had voted the other way. This is very sneaky of the writers of prop 99. There was a measure on the ballot a couple years ago that would have fixed the eminent domain problem in California but did not pass, possibly because some voters thought its protections were too great-- so the possibility that prop 99 will get more votes than prop 98 is very real.
I'm not sure what to do. I think I will probably vote for 98 and against 99. At least that way if they both fail everyone will know they have failed and it will provide the opportunity to reform eminent domain in a future election. If prop 98 fails and 99 passes, people will be left with the idea that eminent domain has been reformed and there will be less impetus for true reform in the future.