Re: 2018 midterm elections catch-all thread
ACLU position on Amendments on the Alabama November ballot.
https://www.aclualabama.org/en/2018midterms/ballot-initiatives
[h=2]Amendment #1: Ten Commandments Amendment[/h]
This proposed amendment would authorize the display of the Ten Commandments on government property including public schools.
The ACLU opposes this Amendment because a constitutional display of the Ten Commandments is already permissible and the Amendment does nothing to further religious liberty. The Amendment is likely to result in litigation against government entities, including public schools, that could result in an award of attorneys’ fees against them for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[h=2]Amendment #2: Anti-Abortion Amendment[/h]
This proposed amendment would declare that the state of Alabama must recognize and support the “rights of unborn children.â€Â
The ACLU opposes this Amendment because it attempts to criminalize abortions with no exceptions (i.e.: life of the mother, instances of rape, etc.). Health care shouldn't be a decision left up to lawmakers in Montgomery.
[h=2]Amendment #3: University of Alabama Trustees Amendment[/h]
This proposed amendment would remove the state superintendent from the board, establish districts for membership, and eliminate the 70 year age cap for board members.
The ACLU takes no position on this Amendment.
[h=2]Amendment #4: Legislature Vacancy Amendment[/h]
This proposed amendment would allow a vacated seat in the Alabama House or Senate to stay empty until the next general election if the vacancy occurs on or after October 1 in the third year of a term.
The ACLU takes no position on this Amendment.
My take on the amendments. I have already voted by absentee ballot.
Ten Commandments-Pointless political grandstanding. Likely designed to get all good Christians to the polls who will also vote for the senile old bag who endorsed someone she believed dated teenagers while he was in his 30s. Luckily, there is a clause that says no public funds can be spent on this defending it in court. So this will be dead as soon as it hits the courts.
I voted "NO" on this one.
Abortion-Another pointless amendment as it does nothing as the law stands now. But if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, it could come into play. I don't like the idea of abortion on demand, but it is a medical necessity for some people and I worry a total ban (which this seems to be the first step towards) would be a problem for them.
I voted "NO" on this.
Board of Trustess-Right now, the Alabama BOT gives each congressional district two representatives and three for Tuscaloosa's, plus the governor and the head of the state schools. But if we lose a House seat in 2022, two people would lose their appointment. This keeps the old districts intact for the BOT and kicks off the state superintendent. It also keeps people on the board past the age of 70, which I thought had already been done.
I voted "NO". I didn't have a big problem with this, I just don't like changing the law just to keep two people on the board. It would be funny if we had a huge population boom in the 2020s and we gained two seats after the 2030 census (with Kay Ivey's leadership, anything is possible) and they had to change the law again. I am fine with the 70-year old provision, if only to upset conspiracy theorists who think it is a ploy to keep Paul Bryant Jr. on the board. But I went against it anyway. This one passing will bother me the least.
Special elections-This says there will not be a special election for state legislature seats if the vacancy occurs after October 1 of the third year of a term. So if a state Senator or House member dies, resigns, or gets thrown in jail in September 2021, there would not be an election to fill the seat until November 2022. This leaves a district without representation for the 2022 session as well as the special session when they don't get everything done the first time.
I do agree that special elections for legislative seats are expensive and get a very low turnout. If the election is after the final session of the term, it is particularly pointless, though the office holder probably does perform some constituent services even if the legislature is not in session.
I think they should juts let the governor appoint someone. If the vacancy occurs in the first half of the term, there can be an election along with the regular elections that year. So a vacancy in 2019 can be filled with the election in 2020. But the appointment should be from the same party as the previous office holder. If the governor is from another party, the state party can give the governor a list of people to choose from.
For the reasons stated above, I voted "NO".
My prediction is that the first two pass easily because that is what God wants. The other two could go either way, but I think they both pass and the world's longest constitution gets even longer.
We also had two local ones on my ballot. One allows Bingo in Calhoun County, which I supported. Another was about some jurisdictional issue that I didn't quite understand and I went against it.
