Also on the ballot — pot, hunting and sex
Amid the circus that is the 2016 election and the political angst over the fate of down-ballot Republicans and Democrats, one of the great expressions of American democracy will take place Tuesday as voters in 35 states turn out to vote on “ballot measures.” They number 162 in total and range from porn stars to pot, hunting and fishing to chickens and cows. Here are some to watch:
Sweet Mary Jane Four states — Florida, North Dakota, Montana and Arkansas — are voting to legalize medical marijuana, although the states vary on what conditions will be covered. A win in any one would legalize medical pot in the majority of states in the union.
Five states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada — will vote to make recreational marijuana legal and regulate it more like alcohol; used in small amounts by those over 21 and its sale would be taxed. Duck! Rabbit! Duck! Voters in Indiana, Montana and Kansas will decide if the right to hunt and fish should be enshrined in their states’ constitutions, with slight variations in each. In Indiana, hunting and fishing will be defined as a right; in Montana, animal traps may be banned on state lands; and in Kansas, hunting, fishing and trapping would be a right. If passed, the right to hunt and fish would be defined in 20 state constitutions.
The Verdict California will vote on a ballot initiative to ban the death penalty and one to revise rules that would speed up the appeals and petitions process. In Nebraska, the reinstatement of the death penalty, which was banned in 2015, is on the ballot. And in Oklahoma voters will decide on allowing courts to rule “cruel and unusual punishment” as grounds for seeking a new method of execution.
No glove, no (pretend) love If passed, porn stars in California will be required to use condoms during sex scenes and require producers to pay for STI testing, vaccines and medical exams.
Animal containers Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot would, if passed, prohibit the sale of eggs, veal or pork of a farm animal confined in spaces that prevent the animals from lying down, standing up, extending their limbs or turning around.
Carbon Tax Washington’s Initiative 732 would enact the first carbon tax in the United States if passed. Opponents and supporters are watching carefully while economists insist a carbon tax is the most effective way to tackle global warming. The tax, put on the ballot by standup comedian Yoram Bauman who has a PhD in economics, would create a tax of $25 per ton on carbon dioxide emissions. The revenue would be used to cut one percentage point from the state sales tax, give a rebate of $1,500 for low-income families and eliminate a tax on manufacturers.