Open Ballot

The secret ballot has a number of protections that are important for a fair democracy, but it also has the potential of inhibiting political discourse. The intent is to protect individual from having to share who and what they are voting for, not to prevent the individual from being able to share who and what they are voting for and why. I haven't blogged nearly as much as I might have wanted to this political cycle. Today I voted by absentee ballot. And tonight on the eve of election day I will share what I voted and why.

At the top of the ticket I really wanted to vote for the Green party candidate Jill Stein for that matter Ross (Rocky) Anderson running in Michigan on the Natural Law party ticket would have also represented a political choice consistent with my views. In the end in spite of a five point lead in the polls I gave in and voted for Barack Obama. Obama is clearly candidate of the corporate political duopoly, is also a war criminal, but all indications are that a Mitt Romney presidency would only take the country further down the road of war, environmental destruction, further eroding civil liberties and further concentrating wealth. If Obama has acted immorally, a candidate like Romney who seems willing to say anything would most likely be worse so Obama gets my vote but with following slogan: “Reelect Obama, Impeach Obama.” 

As far as Democratic Party Senators go, Debbie Stabenow is not so bad, nonetheless with more than a 10 point lead over Pete Hoekstra I felt it reasonable to vote for John Litle the Natural Law party candidate. I know John personally, he is a grassroots activists, and he stands for many of the values I hold dear. He is also creative and radical in his politics.

For the 12th district Congress seat, again I was not happy about voting for the Democrat John Dingell. for years Dingell blocked improved energy standards in the auto industry. With a big spread between him and his Republican contender, I was very tempted to vote for the only other candidate running for this slot, a libertarian. After considerable web searching I could not find any information positions held by the Libertarian candidate.  Without knowing who he wants, I voted for Dingell instead. Dingell has done some good work over the years.

Jeff Irwin was the first Democrat I felt good about voting for. I have watched him in his first term, often taking importance to, and speaking out saying the right thing.

Although I often vote for a Green party candidate for the state Board of Education, this year I stuck to the Democrats Michelle Fecteau is already on the board, and has union activist credentials, Lupe Ramos-Montigny appears to be a good candidate, and amidst the right wing war on education having as many Democrats as possible is probably worth working for.

In terms of the University boards I split my tickets. For the U of M regents, I voted for Mark Bernstein commitment is lowering tuition, and Eric Borregard of the Green party. For MSU Trustee I voted Democrat Joel Ferguson, his Democratic running mate seemed only interested in the football, so Lloyd Clarke of the Green party got my other vote. Finally for Wayne State Governor I voted for Democrat Kim Trent, she seemed preferable to Sandra Hughes O’Brian the other Democrat. Margaret Guttshall has been running as a Green for the Wayne State Governors or many years. Her running mate Latham Redding might have got my vote but I didn't have any more information about that candidate.

On the county level, I was glad to vote for Justin Altman a libertarian running for prosecuting attorney. My hunch is that a libertarian in this position would help to undermine the war on people who do drugs. While others might still remember my campaign for Sheriff and quixotically right me in, I followed the advice of Planned Parenthood, and voted for Jeff Gallatin the Republican. This was not without some hesitation, I seem to recall, from my undergraduate days individuals who had Gallatin as a landlord, and rumors of him being somewhat scummy. Lawrence Kestenbaum the Democrat got my vote for clerk, in spite of him once bad mouthing me in my run for Sheriff, no hard feelings Larry. I voted for Catherine McClary over her Republican rival. And Evan Pratt cam well recommended for Water Commissioner. County Commissioner Conan Smith  comes from a progressive political family and is carrying on the tradition, so he got  my vote.

John Hieftje got my  vote for mayor although I was tempted to write in Steve Bean who ran an independent campaign a couple years back.  The unaffiliated candidate running against Heiftje is apparently a Republican who was late to file papers. Although his agenda includes a call for greater transparency, something the city could use, the rest of his agenda is not in line with where I’d like to see things go. Interfaith Council for peace and justice director Chuck Warpehoski got my vote for counsel.

When it comes to judges it's always a good idea to know a lawyer whose politics you trust at least a little. My cousin in law Eric Lipson is just such a person. Eric presently runs the student housing co-ops in Ann Arbor, but he knows lawyers and I trust him. He suggested Connie Kelly, Bridget McCormick, and Sheila Johnson for the Supreme Court, and Carol Kuhnke  for the judge of the 22nd Circuit Court. The only other contested judgeship was Timothy Connors versus Michael Woodyard, Connors had a number of endorsements from labor so he got my vote. As is often the case there were many judicial candidates running unopposed. For democracy to work there has to be an opposition, so when there are unopposed candidates I right people in mostly as a symbolic act. My writing candidates are almost always good friends and since their chances of winning are about as good as your good friends chances, I will spare you the races and who I wrote in.

For school board I voted for the present president Deb Mexicotte, for WCC board of trustees, there are some concerns about William Figg that led me to vote for Richard Landau and Diana Morton. For library board I voted for the one non-incumbent Lyn Davidge although I could have voted for up to four, voting only for her gives her the best chance of getting him. I think a new voice would be worthwhile on the board.

The state proposals were easy: no  on 1 , yes on 2, yes on 3, yes on 4 and no on 5 , and no on 6.

1.       1) I don’t want to give the state the power to overturn local city governments.

2.      2) Unions should be guaranteed collective bargaining rights, this will preempt attempts to make Michigan a right to work state.

3.     3) Between peek oil and global warming we need all of the renewable energy we can get and 3 gets us 25% renewable energy by 2025.  It doesn’t go far enough , but its in the right direction.

4.      4) Provides some quality protection for people receiving home care, it also promotes union rights for home care workers. All of this is good.

5.       5) Limits raises in taxes to popular votes of the electorate. This strikes me as a prohibitive standard.

6.       6) Gives the present Detroit to Canada bridge owner a monopoly on the border crossings.

 Finally there are the local propositions. Ann Arbor has a park millage renewal, (A) we have great parks, this millage is a renewal of a previous millage. I’m in favor of Parks. 

I voted against  (B) the arts millage.  As I understand it this would prevent funds being used for public art that are not specifically designated for art from a centralized fund.  Even though it raises funds for art it centralizes control over public art, and prevents art funds from coming from other department funds.  In the long run this sounds like it could work against the arts. 

 Perhaps the most controversial proposition on my ballot is the bond proposal to raise money for a new downtown library. I can see both sides of this issue they both say things that make sense. I went back and forth on this postal but in the end I'm not a fan of throwing buildings away. To my naive eye the library building seems like it is in great shape. Even if it does need some repair and upgrading this seems better than putting all that brick and concrete into a landfill. It's always good to acknowledge self-interest, and in spite of their insistence that there will be some downtown library services, I am nervous about the temporary loss of library services at a time when they are likely to be most useful to my children. 

Okay that's all I voted, if you haven't yet now it's your turn.