Threat to the Secret Ballot?
Assemblyman Marc Levine’s idea to allow selfies of voters’ ballots could lead down a path of upending the secret ballot.
Perhaps an overwrought notion but consider:
Levine argues in a press release that, “California law should encourage voter pride, political speech, and civic engagement through social media.” Current law prohibits anyone from showing his or her marked ballot. Levine argues this is a violation of free speech.
Certainly, any voter can tell another person how they voted. But I can see campaigns springing up pressuring voters to post their ballots on social media as a group effort. Such a campaign could easily lead to peer pressure to show your ballot and once that pressure is applied some voters may feel bullied to mark their ballot a certain way and show acquaintances.
The selfie could also serve as a receipt to a special interest that is interesting in buying votes.
The secret ballot is the soul of our democratic process. It allows voters to express their true feelings without outside influences bullying or intimidating the voter. How much of a threat to the secret ballot is the change suggested by Levine?
SF’s Proposition J and the Split Roll
San Francisco voters passed Proposition J on Tuesday’s ballot to create The Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund. The idea is to offer city revenues to landlords and business owners to allow older businesses to remain in their locations and prevent them from being forced out because of the exploding rental market in the country’s most expensive city.
The fund would provide grants of $22,500 a year to landlords and $50,000 to businesses to keep the businesses operating in their current locations.
Proposition J was supported by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the San Francisco Labor Council. Am I wrong, or aren’t these groups also supporting a split roll property tax to raise property taxes on all commercial buildings? If a split roll comes to pass the legacy businesses will be gone or the city’s grant fund would have to be a WHOLE lot larger.
Initiative Strategy in a Governor’s Race
Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week that he would support an initiative to raise the minimum wage in California. It is the third ballot measure in which Newsom has taken a high-profile position. He is also behind the effort to limit guns with background checks on ammunition purchases and elimination of large gun magazines. He is a supporter of a marijuana legalization effort.
Political observers believe Newsom hopes to use a connection to these initiatives as a springboard to the governor’s office in 2018. It is not uncommon for candidates for elected office in California to showcase their credentials by embracing ballot propositions.
However, another candidate for governor found the strategy of supporting multiple initiatives wanting when he made a similar effort. Attorney General John Van de Kamp championed three initiative measures in the run-up to the 1990 campaign for governor.
Covering the broad areas of political reform, crime and environmentalism, Van de Kamp put forth the three as he was trying to capture the Democratic nomination for governor. He lost to Dianne Feinstein.
Of course, Newsom’s run for governor will occur two years after the ballot initiatives are decided by the voters. But, it does give him an opportunity to be more visible than the office of lieutenant governor allows.