An Official "I've Studied My Sample Ballot, I Know How I'm Voting, and Won't Be a Time-Wasting Jagoff at my Polling Place Whose Indecision and Lack of Preparation Causes Long Lines" Tracking Thread

[Fudge Nuggets 19165]

I found some Q&A's for some of our local school board positions.  Any of them that was in favor of vouchers or even voucher-adjacent got cut from the list.  Those with constant focus on student discipline got cut.  Not that I'm not for putting shithead students in their place, but if that's your main focus and you harp about it constantly then fuck you.

To round out my selections for some of the other local races, I strolled up the street to the house with the Harris - Walz sign and wrote down the names of the candidates they were promoting.  Done and dusted, I'm ready to rock.

[safe sex 11688]

6 hours ago, Al Czervik said:

#teamBadGuy 

[Dbeasy 15008]

12 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Short answer: no.  Vote straight-ticket D.

I used to regularly recommend a mixed ballot in judicial races, because political reality meant that in some counties/districts, there were good judges running as R's.  No longer.  Association with the current R party is a complete and total disqualifier, and nobody willing to have that association can be trusted to make decisions about other people's lives.

My old man actually asked me for my thoughts on the ballot this weekend, so he'd be ready for early voting.  We pretty much just discussed the local non-partisan races (mayor, city council).  I told him for everything else, vote for the D.  His response "yeah, that was my thinking."  That's from my dad....who voted mostly R for most of my life.  He flat-out said "yeah, that party is just so fucked up, I can't vote for any of them."

So, that's the recommendation this year, and for probably the remainder of my life: in all partisan races, vote against the R.  Always.

 

11 hours ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

I appreciate the reminder & printed my sample ballot & researched the elections I wasn't fully familiar with, specifically the ACC and LISD contests. Color me surprised that the Leander school board openings choices are either a) normal member of the community w/ a kid or two in public schools in the district, or b) christofascist Moms for Liberty nutters who attended the J6th insurrection.
 

Independent in Travis County Leander here. My R voting has been dwindling for years, like a urine stream after five minutes at three in the morning. I think I’m straight ticket D this election, maybe for the first time ever? Any indication of heavy religious focus by a candidate now automatically means a No vote for me. Eff the hypocrites. 

Edited October 8 by Dbeasy

[tx 3 putt 76598]

55 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 

Independent in Travis County Leander here. My R voting has been dwindling for years, like a urine steam after five minutes at three in the morning. I think I’m straight ticket D this election, maybe for the first time ever? Any indication of heavy religious focus by a candidate now automatically means a No vote for me. Eff the hypocrites. 

 

i was split ticket for years also, can remember the last R i voted for 

[fattyflattie 4637]

Straight ticket. Like everyone else in this unbelievably predictable poll.   

[Brisketexan 104789]

Straight ticket. Like everyone else in this unbelievably predictable poll.   

Guess you missed the part where many of us used to split tickets, even being heavier on the R side of the ticket.
Shit has changed. We saw it and figured it out. You haven’t.

[Slacks 6807]

10 hours ago, royiv said:

My ballot is super easy. Zero non-partisan races, a couple of races with a D running uncontested, no races with a R running uncontested and just three propositions. Will vote Yes on Harris County flood control and No on the two HISD bonds because fuck Mike Miles.

Man... Everyone wants to vote no on the schools and then say "look at how bad the schools are, no wonder everyone leaves."

Mike Miles is a trap. Don't fall in it. The bond doesn't increase taxes.

[royiv 9179]

13 minutes ago, Slacks said:

Man... Everyone wants to vote no on the schools and then say "look at how bad the schools are, no wonder everyone leaves."

Mike Miles is a trap. Don't fall in it. The bond doesn't increase taxes.

Absolutely not. I understand the sentiment, but you’re toeing the company line. I don’t trust Miles or the Board of Managers that are all Abbott stooges. Get rid of them and I’ll vote for the school bonds.

[Texas Jeff 1939]

6 hours ago, chainsaw said:

Based on this, I'd go with Ganguly due to actually having been a teacher

https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/election/2024/09/23/qa-meet-the-austin-city-council-district-10-candidates/

Man, maybe ... honestly I haven't looked at it yet.  The current AISD board is full of teachers and past principals.  What they need is a few accountants.

The current board turned down free money two years ago, like $50 million in non-taxpayer dollars over a period of years.  They could use it now.  They passed a deficit budget that set them on a path to spend down their reserves to critical levels, hoping the lege would bail them out and the lege did not.  Now they are going to have to pass a big tax increase and make major cuts over the next two years to get the budget back to level.

The board is struggling to cut anything because these are people that ran to improve stuff and not cut stuff.  It's not in their nature to cut.

They had an efficiency audit, mandated by the VATRE election, that showed that even with Robin Hood taken out, they spend $1500 more per student than peer districts yet somehow pay their teachers and administration less than peer districts.

[Texas Jeff 1939]

6 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

Man, maybe ... honestly I haven't looked at it yet.  The current AISD board is full of teachers and past principals.  What they need is a few accountants.

The current board turned down free money two years ago, like $50 million in non-taxpayer dollars over a period of years.  They could use it now.  They passed a deficit budget that set them on a path to spend down their reserves to critical levels, hoping the lege would bail them out and the lege did not.  Now they are going to have to pass a big tax increase and make major cuts over the next two years to get the budget back to level.

The board is struggling to cut anything because these are people that ran to improve stuff and not cut stuff.  It's not in their nature to cut.

They had an efficiency audit, mandated by the VATRE election, that showed that even with Robin Hood taken out, they spend $1500 more per student than peer districts yet somehow pay their teachers and administration less than peer districts.

Dang it, sorry I was talking about the Austin ISD board trustee elections, sorry.

There are only two seats up for grabs, district 2 in East Austin and an at-large seat at position 8.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/education/2024/09/12/get-to-know-the-austin-isd-school-board-candidates/

[DDD Dad 14272]

Dallas has a ton of local propositions about which I know nothing. Guess I will have to start doing some research. 

[chainsaw 9841]

2 hours ago, DDD Dad said:

Dallas has a ton of local propositions about which I know nothing. Guess I will have to start doing some research. 

In the past, for me, shit like this has been the root cause of voting taking a long time. Sometimes I really sit there and debate, other times I don't care and just choose whatever.

Now I'll usually wait for the Chronicle endorsement team to explain whether they're for or against a proposition (and why). I don't always agree with them, but having a plain english discussion of the editorial board's views of the consequences is useful in helping me choose.

[SydneyCarton 47937]

29 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

In the past, for me, shit like this has been the root cause of voting taking a long time. Sometimes I really sit there and debate, other times I don't care and just choose whatever.

Now I'll usually wait for the Chronicle endorsement team to explain whether they're for or against a proposition (and why). I don't always agree with them, but having a plain english discussion of the editorial board's views of the consequences is useful in helping me choose.

Texas League of Women Voters is where I start. 

[Brisketexan 104789]

6 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Texas League of Women Voters is where I start. 

Co-sign.  Always a great, and (even though the GQPers complain about it now, because they are deranged nutbars) neutral, fact-based analysis.

Seriously....they have always been the go-to source, and haven't changed their methodology or approach, but now the GQP hates them and calls them biased when they say something as simple as "Candidate X states that his number one issue is preventing sloth attacks in Texas.  Texas has never recorded an attack of a sloth on a human being."

[chainsaw 9841]

I like the league of voters, too. The more information, the better. I try to get an editorial board because they're less afraid to say things like "this is just a bullshit Matt Mackowiak grift" or "Elon Musk dropped $750k on this race"

Edited October 8 by chainsaw

[royiv 9179]

On 10/7/2024 at 4:22 PM, bonnieblue said:

Anyone have any decent background info on Duchen v. Ashika for Austin City council (D10)or the AISD “at large” nominees?

I spoke with Ashika on the phone today. I don’t live in Austin, but my parents live in the district she’s running in. My dad and I share the same name so it’s not unusual that I get phone calls during election season intended for him. I ended up chatting with her for a few minutes and she seemed competent. If I lived in Austin, I’d probably be inclined to vote for her given her background and the fact that she’s younger and female, two things we need more of in politics.

[yoladu 4078]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

I spoke with Ashika on the phone today. I don’t live in Austin, but my parents live in the district she’s running in. My dad and I share the same name so it’s not unusual that I get phone calls during election season intended for him. I ended up chatting with her for a few minutes and she seemed competent. If I lived in Austin, I’d probably be inclined to vote for her given her background and the fact that she’s younger and female, two things we need more of in politics.

she was canvasing in my neighborhood, old fashion style, door to door. 

got my vote.

[yoladu 4078]

On 10/8/2024 at 9:25 AM, chainsaw said:

In the past, for me, shit like this has been the root cause of voting taking a long time. Sometimes I really sit there and debate, other times I don't care and just choose whatever.

Now I'll usually wait for the Chronicle endorsement team to explain whether they're for or against a proposition (and why). I don't always agree with them, but having a plain english discussion of the editorial board's views of the consequences is useful in helping me choose.

my go-to as well. I just just rip the section out and take it into the voting booth with me. Definitely helps with confusing propositions.

gets me in and out quickly

 

 

 

.

Edited October 11 by yoladu

[ultimaton 2966]

NSIAP, the League of Women Voters Austin Area Voters Guide is now available.

[chainsaw 9841]

Had no clue Sean Astin was running for Texas Supreme Court as a libertarian

[chainsaw 9841]

Austin Chronicle endorsements are in

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-10-18/endorsements-for-the-november-2024-general-election/

Here's a sample:

Quote

Mayor: No Endorsement

We aim to endorse someone in every race. But this pool of candidates is tricky. There are two candidates who strike us as knowledgeable and nimble enough to effectively lead Council, but each comes with baggage that this editorial board as a whole could not get past. We considered a dual endorsement, but that would give each candidate the Chronicle’s stamp of approval, and neither has it.

Incumbent Kirk Watson has been effective in many regards. He’s guided Council through a reform of the Development Services Department that seemed impossible in previous years, and he’s moved quickly on other issues, such as through the efficient establishment of the Marshalling Yard to temporarily house more unhoused Austinites following the Salvation Army’s decision to abandon their Downtown shelter. Only a commanding, action-oriented leader could make that kind of progress.

But there have been tradeoffs. A signature of Watson’s leadership is closed-door policy-making that leaves members of the public and even his Council colleagues little or no time to provide meaningful input. The most high-profile example is the APD-DPS partnership he initiated, in private, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, which allowed state troopers to conduct targeted patrols in Austin. Those troopers ultimately targeted Black and brown Austinites disproportionately. Watson admits he mishandled planning that partnership, but other episodes indicate he didn’t really learn that lesson. Discussion around the Zilker Vision Plan and a potential 2024 climate bond were both scuttled at his behest following mostly behind-the-scenes lobbying. Similarly, Watson pushed for Council to vote on the fiscally questionable, threatening-to-oversight police contract one week after it was announced. An outcry from Council and community members delayed that vote, but it remains unclear if Watson’s rush to make a deal will win out over thorough, thoughtful policy making.

Kathie Tovo presents Watson’s equal in terms of ability to competently run city government, but for better and worse, his opposite in governing style. Through her decade on Council, she was meticulous and fiercely committed to discussing every detail in public. The benefit was open government and some careful planning, and the downside was slow, jargon-filled meetings that were at times inaccessible for the public due to both language and time commitment. In a city facing urgent affordability and climate threats, her approach presents meaningful risks. Meanwhile, her track record of opposition to density-friendly housing policies puts her out of step with the current pro-density Council. Austin voters have expressed their embrace of this approach by electing progressive representatives who support increasing the city’s market-rate housing supply with the aim of reducing housing prices citywide. Tovo thinks Council went too far with these reforms, and that the reforms as drafted won’t achieve their goals. As mayor, she’d be only one vote on a very determined Council, but our editorial board has concerns about the delays and roadblocks she may present to increasing density. For example, Tovo wants to revisit rules around compatibility and parking requirements in particular. That is a callback to times past – times most of our editorial board does not want to return to as our population only continues to grow.

In Doug Greco and Carmen Llanes Pulido, we see well-meaning, progressive candidates with big blind spots. They value and prioritize marginalized communities, but their lack of executive experience is disqualifying (the city of Austin is a $5.9 billion enterprise that employs 13,500 people, after all). Like Watson and Tovo, they care about police oversight. They want Austin to be a safe city for immigrants, queer Texans, and deeply rooted East Austin families of color. But Greco’s suit against the city to allow campaign donations from other states posed serious risks, and signaled short-sightedness. Greco has been a fierce critic of Watson on the campaign trail and, before that, a staunch advocate for working class families as an organizer and at the Texas Legislature, but we don’t think that experience has prepared him to be mayor of the 11th largest city in America. Like Tovo, Llanes Pulido disagrees with Council’s development reforms and has been engaged in the fight against them for years. We think it’s time to move past that approach and toward policies that treat the market as a key part of solving the city’s housing crisis, even if market-based policies do not represent a silver bullet. Also, while Llanes Pulido has been laser-focused on land-use, the city is facing, and will face, a raft of other issues that we don’t feel she is prepared to address. Jeffery Bowen, who serves on the Austin Neighborhoods Council, simply lacks the experience we want to see in a mayor.

 

[Huckleberry 32762]

So Lone Star College screwed up their ballot submittal to Harris County and there will be a race on my ballot that I shouldn't have. Gonna leave that blank. 

I have a pretty short ballot and have finished researching the few down ballot races so headed to vote this afternoon.