Proposition 43. Right to Have Vote Counted. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. Right now our State Constitution doesn't explicitly say that if you vote, you have to have to have your vote counted. State laws cover that, but laws can be changed easier than amending the State Constitution. This Proposition will require no state funds.

The Pro side cites Florida 2000, where recounts were stopped because they didn't have the time to do it. This addition to the State Constitution means that your vote will always be counted no matter what. The Con rebuttal notes that the law could require expensive recounts even when the votes in question wouldn't change the results. Then they spend the rest of their rebuttal pointing to other worthy causes more demanding of your time -- a major faux pas in my book.

The Con side raises the spectre of more lawsuits (what if your mail-in vote is lost in the mail? What if your ballot is defective?). Then they say that the real problem with elections is that most citizens don't vote and there aren't enough candidates on the ballot. The Pro rebuttal says that Prop 43 will help maintain the integrity of our election system, and that it has strong bipartisan support.

Based on the arguments, I'd totally go with the Pro. The Con side sound like a bunch of political fringe lunatics and really helped the Pro side. But I have a real problem voting yes on Prop 43. I know it's designed to prevent the problem we say in Florida, but I don't think that will happen here. We're not going to bow down to the Federal government for political expediency. Our election system works and we don't need to create laws to fix something that is not broken. So I will vote no for Prop 43.

Proposition 44. Chiropractors. Unprofessional Conduct. Legislative Initiative Amendment. Apparently, the Chiropractic Act was passed via a previous Proposition, which means that the Act can't be changed except with another Proposition, one of the drawbacks of making Propositions Constitutional Amendments. In any case, Prop 44 specifies three things: Chiropractors can't employ runners to procure patients, Chiropractors will be suspendedfor 10 years on their second conviction of insurance fraud, the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners to investigate themselves any cases of insurance fraud (this would be in addition to the regular criminal investigation).

The Pro argument is that insurance fraud is a big problem in general. Although the legislatire can pass laws to cover other professions, amendments to the Chiropractic Act have to be approved by voters. There is no Con rebuttal. The Con argument is that the 10 year ban is too stiff a punishment and that ambulance chasers, although distasteful, should be allowed (i.e. don't outlaw practices just because they are somewhat distasteful). The Pro rebuttal is that the Cons are "flat wrong" and that those evil chiropractors passed the Chiropractic Act 80 years ago and now we have to pass other initiatives to amend that act.

Ok, I can see that Chiropractors should be punished the same as for other professions. And I also believe that the Chiropractic Act is a bad thing. But trying to amend the act is the wrong way to go about it. Repeal the Act and let our State Legislature take care of Chiropractors the same as any other medical profession. So I'm not voting yes because this is the wrong way to go about change and it'll only encourage people to keep doing the wrong thing.