This is just a quick update since I posted my choices regarding the five ballot initiatives.
Amendment 1, known as the "right to farm", PASSED but only by about 2500 votes out of almost 995,000 cast. It is interesting to look at the county-by-county counts. The amendment lost badly, badly in larger urban counties -- Jackson, St. Louis, Boone (University of Missouri in Columbia is there), St. Charles (usually conservative), Greene (extremely conservative). Where it won, and how it won, was on turn-out in the truly rural counties of the state. As might be expected, suburbites were more susceptible the Humane Society of the United States propaganda than are those who actually know or know of people and operations that have been targeted by HSUS fund-raising lawsuits and media shows. This would have lost had it been on the November ballot.
Amendment 5, an affirmation of the right to keep and bear arms, PASSED, quite readily with almost 61% of the vote. Here the county totals were more in align with typical voting patterns. It lost only in places that truly hate freedom and self-reliance, like Kansas City, St. Louis City, even St. Louis County, and Boone County (Columbia being Havana on the Hinkson). Suburban counties, like St. Charles and Jackson, supported it strongly enough.
Amendment 7, an increase of in the state sales tax to fund transportation, FAILED, again, fairly handily, 59 to 41 percent. Oddly, this amendment had the highest vote total, over 998,000, and lost in almost every jurisdiction except Kansas City and, for some strange reason, Marion County which includes the city of Hannibal in northeast Missouri along the Mississippi. The reason some urban areas voted against it is because it is a sales tax increase, and those who pay no income taxes prefer to keep the burden on income tax payers. I voted against it because I do pay enough taxes, and MODOT is extremely inefficient.
Amendment 8, regarding the issuance of a special lottery ticket to fund Veterans' services, FAILED. The vote was 55 percent against. A lot of people were probably afraid it would take away from their precious idol of public education. I noted only a couple of counties where it had majority support -- Pulaski, home of Fort Leonard Wood, and Pettis, which is near Whiteman Air Force Base. Others probably felt like me, that it was more a gimmick than an actual measure to support veterans.
Amendment 9, requiring a warrant to search phones and other electronic devices, PASSED -- overwhelmingly -- 3 to 1. This was across the board. Just glancing down the list, I did not see any political unit where it did not have substantial majority approval. It did, however, have the lowest vote total -- fewer than 975,000 votes total. You do have to wonder about the nearly 25% that voted against it. It's what a Psych professor called "The Dead Man Split" -- if you ran a perfect person against a dead man, 25% of the American people are just perverse enough to vote for the dead man.
Right or wrong, this matches the way I voted, so I can't complain.
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