Peace In The Margins

Yesterday was Election Day across the United States, and debates and argument abound! Some are overjoyed at the results this morning, while others are brooding in defeat. Yet, everyone who cast a vote had a voice in the outcomes. All votes matter!

In Florida, where I am, the major race was for Governor. Gillum v. DeSantis. And while I personally didn’t see either as “the best choice,” to me one candidate stood out as the one who’d do the least amount of damage to our state. Likewise, each voter looked deep within, prayed for direction, used their judgement, and/or voted their conscience. And the results are what they are – until the next election.

Another interesting thing in Florida’s Election was the plethora of Constitutional Amendments. Most voters don’t understand why there were so many on the ballot, and I blame the Election Offices and our school systems for not appropriately explaining this process. I believe if more people understood how this part of voting works, the more consideration would be given by the voter.

There were TWELVE Amendments on the ballot this year – not thirteen. Amendment 8 was removed by the Supreme Court before Election Day. Three Amendments were proposed by the Legislature, two were citizen initiatives, and seven were proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC).

Every 20 years, Florida assigns a commission to review the State Constitution. The goal is to ensure the current constitutional language still lines up with Supreme Court Rulings and new community and cultural issues. For instance, the banning of vaping in the workplace was one such Amendment. Under the Clean Air Act, smoking is banned. Now the times have changed, and vaping has been introduced to our culture. Common since would dictate this also be banned like smoking, but the language doesn’t match up. It must be addressed in the Constitution. Unfortunately, this Amendment was placed on the ballot as a bundled issue, combining it with the very controversial topic of off shore drilling (claiming “Clean Air, Clean Water”). Some voters may be all in to ban vaping, but on the fence or opposed to off shore drilling. This may not have been the best bundles, but it was upheld as such by the Supreme Court.  Whether you agree or disagree with bundling, the reality is it would be more frustrating to the average voter if he or she had 30 or so amendments to sift through. By the way, there were 123 CRC Proposals this year, so 12 Amendments isn’t bad at all – considering.

I never learned these important processes when I was in school, and they aren’t being taught today either. This is a sad day we live in when uneducated voters rush to the polls to cast votes for issues they don’t understand. Voters must understand the process, know that there is more than simply the language on the ballot (actual Constitutional language and a variety of analysis on that language which are used to determine court outcomes), and who the candidates really are beyond the boundaries of red or blue. But we get caught up in the political drama and hype – much like the UF v. FSU game – we take sides, and regardless if our team is the best this season or not, we are loyal to a fault.

So now Election Day has passed, as have some of the Amendments. We have a new Governor Elect and many new local and state officials who will take office in January. Voters play the largest part in this process, and in the words of School House Rock, “Knowledge is power.” Educate yourself on the process; educate yourself on the issues and intent; educate yourselves on the candidates – and let your voice be heard!

Thank you to all who voted this year. We’ll get ready to do it again soon!

Until next time,

Alicia