For only the fourth time I cast an election ballot. Part of the reason I rarely voted was to avoid jury rolls, partly it was that I never cared. However, for the first time I am living somewhere I think I might want to stay in for more than two years, and I am kind of over the bad experience with jury duty (I was summoned several times a year while in college when I was never at home), plus I'm not stupid/emotional enough to be selected for a jury. So voting is a bit more important for me this year.

Nevertheless, the main reason I voted this year was to get rid of Barbara Boxer.

All the rest of my votes were for ballot measures because I don't really know who anyone else is. Here they are:

US Senate: Carly Fiorina

I do not like Fiorina, not one bit, but anything to get Boxer out.

Prop 19: No

The legalize marijuana prop. I am receptive to the idea that the cost of enforcement isn't worth it, and I expect it'll be legalized some day (small amounts are already decriminalized under state law). But radical change is not (and rarely ever is) the answer, and I'm not convinced it's as harmless as the activists say it is. Let this change come about gradually.

Prop 20: Yes

Have a commission draw legislative districts instead of the state legislature. Emphatic yes, though I don't expect anything to really change.

Prop 21: No

An $18 surcharge on car registration to pay for state parks and stuff. No, you want to fund that stuff, grow some spine and make it a tax.

Prop 22: Yes

Disallows the state from taking money allocated to local distribution (or something like that, it's hard to explain in less than ten paragraphs). Yes, but I have doubts.

Prop 23: No

Whether to suspend air pollution laws until unemployment falls to below 5.5%. No, not worth it, the air pollution is way too bad here.

Prop 25: No

Allow state to pass a budget with a simple majority instead of a 2/3 majority. Emphatic No. I think needing 2/3 of the legislature to approve spending is a good thing, if only it wasn't easy to get around.

Prop 26: Yes

Require some state fees to be approved by 2/3 of the legislature. Tax increases already require a 2/3 majority, this was a loophole that needs to be plugged.

Prop 27: No

Abolish the electoral redistricting commission. Emphatic No. The commission was created to get politics out of redistricting, which is a good thing.

Santa Monica Measure Y: No

This was a 0.5% sales tax increase, bringing the tax to 10.5%. Sales tax is stupid and regressive, and the reason we need this tax is laughable in a wealthy city like Santa Monica.

Santa Monica Measure YY - No

Advisory measure whether to divert half the revenues from Measure Y to schools. The school district's reasons for being "broke" are even more laughable than the city's.