Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Voters Vote Yes, County Says No

Posted by kdawson on from the what-part-of-yes-do-you-not-understand dept.

Khyber writes in with a story from Montana, where residents of Missoula County voted in a referendum intended to advise county law-enforcement types to treat marijuana offenses as low-profile. The referendum would not have changed any laws, but was advisory only. After voters approved it, county commissioners overturned it by a 2-to-1 vote. They were swayed by the argument of the county attorney, who had a "gut feeling" that Missoula's electorate had misinterpreted the ballot language. The move has resulted in a flood of disaffection among voters, especially young voters. "Is there even a point to voting any more if the will of the people can so easily be subverted by two people?" one voter posted on a comment blog.

3 of 645 comments (clear)

  1. Re:DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IN THE STORY - GOATSE LIN by FlyByPC · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    OK, that was bizarre -- even coming from an AC...

    --
    Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
  2. Re:Link? by wk633 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Um, it doesn't say 'everyone'. You have to be an able-bodied male, or a female in the national guard. So 17 year old guys can have guns, but 17 year old women who aren't in the National Guard can't?

  3. Same for Florida Trains by transami · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    In Florida, the same thing happened. The citizens voted "YES" to have a commuter train system built (twice). We even voted for the higher taxes to do it! But Governor Jeb Bush decided, "NO" all on his own. And so there is no train.

    Democracy is all but dead in the States. Recently China passed laws to secure private property rights to it's citizens, while here in the U.S. emanate domain laws were watered down to allow seizures for commercial interests. Who's more communist now?

    --
    :T:R:A:N:S: