With election time almost upon us, I wanted to do a quick survey of useful voting guides, with a focus on California’s collection of propositions. The California Official Voter Information Guide comes in at a smooth 143 pages, too much for most people to read, so guides like these become essential.
Neutral or non-partisan
- Ballotpedia has a detail proposition list that includes the cost of signatures; also check out their summary of 2008 ballot measures nationwide which has some detailed summaries, including the revelation that California has the most measures on the ballot of any state this election
- Project Vote Smart has a list of all measures; interestingly, they also have a public web service (in beta) that might make some interesting mashups possible
- League of Women Voters has their always-useful Easy Voter Guide
Opinion or partisan
- I love the take on propositions on mahna mahna blog, starting with his introduction: “It’s election season, which means the people of California once again have the chance to inflict grievous harm upon their beloved state via the initiative process.”
- California Republican Party – select your county, then download the 2008 voter information guide
- California Democratic Party – recommendations for all propositions
- The Sierra Club has their list of recommendations, typically those related to the environment; surprisingly they also have a stance on Prop 4 (parental notification for abortion) — it seems odd to me that the Sierra Club would have a position on family planning and abortion
- The ACLU weighs in on 5 propositions related to their efforts
- The League of Women Voters has published their stance on all but 2 of the measures
(Image credit: public.resource.org on Flickr)