Charlie Means, Guest Writer
Hello Rangers! My name is Charlie Means, and I am thrilled to be writing for The Regis Highlander this year. Since this is my first article as a Guest Writer, I assume that they will give me something easy to write about… and it’s politics. Oh dear. All kidding aside, I actually wanted to take this opportunity to shift focus away from the presidential race, and look at some of the propositions and amendments that are on the ballot in Colorado for November.
You can find the full State Ballot Information Booklet here, if you are interested in looking at the whole thing. But, since I like hearing myself talk, or in this case write, I’m going to go through a brief summary of some of the things that are in this booklet so that you don’t get caught flat footed come Election Day (November 5th).
The first section of the booklet is about State Constitutional Amendments. While there are seven on the ballot, I have football to wat- I mean homework to get through so I’m going to condense it into the two that concern what I consider to be the most high profile issues. The first is Amendment J, which, if passed, would repel the statement in the Colorado constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman. Essentially a vote for Amendment J would be a vote supporting same sex marriage.
The second amendment that I would like to focus on is Amendment 79. If you are like me, you are probably wondering why one amendment is a letter while the other is a number, and to be honest, I have no clue. Hopefully someone can tell me. Anyways, where was I? Right, Amendment 79! If passed, Amendment 79 would enshrine abortion into the state constitution and would repel the current ban on state and local funding for abortion services.
How are you guys doing, are you hanging in there? Don’t worry, this next section is going to be about guns! Specifically, proposition KK, which, if passed, would institute a new tax on firearms, firearm parts and ammunition, and would use that money to fund things like crime victim service and school safety programs.
Ok, last one, I promise, and this one is probably the most boring but I still think it is worth talking about and that is Proposition 131, which would dramatically shift the way that we vote in state primaries. Essentially this proposition would remove the separation of the Democratic primaries and Republican primaries and would make the primaries one giant thing. With this, you could vote for whoever you choose, regardless of your affiliated political party. After that, the top 4 candidates would advance to the general election, where voters would rank the candidates on their ballot from 1 to 4, rather than voting for just one candidate.
I know that was a lot, and there were some things I didn’t touch on, but I do think it’s important to stay informed about the issues on the ballot where you live, or at least go to school. This ensures that when you do go to vote in November, you are making your decision with all the information available to you so you can cast your vote the way that you want.
On a lighter note, if you did manage to make it through this article, here is a video of some sloths in a bucket!
Thanks for reading and Go Rangers!