Seems like there are a lot out there. What's contentious in your neck of the woods?

There were ten on my ballot (in addition to electing a mayor, 9-member city council and 4-member school board):

- Authorizing Ohio to borrow $200,000,000 to pay compensation to Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and families

- A nasty amendment to the state constitution creating an industry-designed panel to regulate agriculture. As I understand it, the panel could not be overruled by any other state body

- Allowing four casinos to be constructed (the fifth attempt to legalize gambling in Ohio in 20 years) -- one of them would be in downtown Cincinnati

- County tax levy for health, hospitalization and treatment services

- County tax levy (renewal/increase) for community mental retardation and developmental disabilities programs and services

- County tax levy to renovate Union Terminal, which houses the Cincinnati Museum Center

- County tax levy to supplement funding for the public library system

- City charter amendment to prohibit city council from selling the water district (shenanigans)

- City charter amendment to prohibit city council from funding light rail (including a proposed downtown streetcar system and the local portion of a statewide high speed rail system). Highly controversial locally...

- Renewal of tax levy for Cincinnati Public Schools


These things are so confusing. I pay attention, usually know about the issues before they become ballot initiatives, and read up on things and talk to people. But I still have to make a cheat sheet to take into the booth and reread the language just to make sure I don't have things backward.

Referendum 71.

Last year, the Washington Legislature passed a law establishing civil unions for same-sex couples and senior citizens. It's basically all the rights of marriage, they just can't call it "a marriage".

Anti-gay groups managed to get enough signatures on petitions (many through devious means) to put the law on the ballot as a referendum, so if a majority of voters vote "no", it overturns the law the legislature enacted.

There have been huge battles in the courts about releasing the names of those who signed the petitions. The petitions are public records, but the groups that sponsored the effort are arguing that there will be retaliation against those who signed. The latest court ruling was to delay a final ruling until after the election.


And yes, this required a cheatsheet because if it was an initiative to overturn the law, a "yes" vote would be to deny same-sex couples civil unions. But since it's a referendum, a "yes" vote preserves the civil unions.

Not an issue per se on the ballot, but we do have one Mayoral candidate running on the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.

Honest. Except maybe there's no "damn" in there.