I want to remind my U.S. readers that today is Election Day. In particular, some of my family members get upset if I don’t put a mention of it in my blog. Of course, last November was an exception, since it was impossible not to know when Election Day was.
Nationwide, there are a handful of interesting contests. A few states have important elections in odd-numbered years, and a couple states, New Jersey and Virginia, are electing governors today. There is a special congressional election in New York that’s getting a lot of attention, and of course everyone is talking about the marriage referendum in Maine.
Here in Arizona, there are no statewide ballot questions this year, which is something of a relief. However, I live in the Paradise Valley Unified School District, where there is a question concerning a budget override. I’m rather unconvinced of the need for a new tax levy at a time when the price of nearly everything is stable or falling. I got robocalled several times by override supporters to remind me a student from the district got into Brown last year. Seriously, that’s all they had. Not that it mattered, because I voted no the day the ballot arrived in the mail.
Of course, my vote doesn’t really matter either, since budget overrides usually pass by overwhelming margins. This is because it’s typically only the voters with a serious interest in the outcome who bother to vote in special elections. Think about it. As a property owner, I look at my school district levy, which was a little under $1000 this year, and realize a small increase isn’t really going to change my lifestyle one way or the other. Only a sense of civic duty motivated me to get off my butt and vote at all, and let’s face it, that sense is pretty rare nowadays. On top of that, many of the individuals who’d have to pay for the override don’t get a vote at all. For example, the prior owner of my home lived out of state, so she would have had no say either way.
On the other hand, teachers and staffers at district schools, as well as members of their families, may individually have a great deal to gain or lose from a small change in the district’s budget. It’s likely they’ll also persuade some others who are sympathetic for one reason or another, especially parents of students. That’s who you’ll see voting today. You can bet the turnout will be low, but they’ll almost all be voting yes.
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