Michigan voters:
November 4th, 2008 is upon us! By being a registered voter, it is your civic duty (and some may argue moral obligation) to cast your ballot this Tuesday.
Use the following link to verify your polling location and view the sample ballot for your county. To verify that you are a registered Michigan voter, you only need to supply your name, month and year of birth, and zip code. Alternatively, you may provide your driver's license number. I've included some information about the ballot below the jump.
https://webapps.sos.state.mi.us/...
One item to note for the 'nonpartisan' section: the Supreme Court Justices do have partisan endorsements. Please take these into consideration when casting your ballot:
Justice of the Supreme Court (vote for 1)
Diane Marie Hathaway - endorsed by the Democratic party
Robert W. Roddis - endorsed by the Libertarian party
Cliff Taylor - endorsed by the Republican party
In the spirit of being well-informed on Tuesday, I encourage each of you to take an hour or so to research your local candidates for other nonpartisan offices. http://judgepedia.org/ can provide a good starting point in this endeavor, in addition to Google.
Included on the ballot are two proposals, both of which have taken some time and effort to arrive in front of you. Please review the language of each proposal and determine how you will vote before Tuesday:
PROPOSAL 08-1
A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE TO PERMIT THE USE AND CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA FOR SPECIFIED MEDICAL CONDITIONS
The proposed law would:
· Permit physician approved use of marijuana by registered patients with debilitating medical
conditions including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, MS and other conditions as
may be approved by the Department of Community Health.
· Permit registered individuals to grow limited amounts of marijuana for qualifying patients in
an enclosed, locked facility.
· Require Department of Community Health to establish an identification card system for
patients qualified to use marijuana and individuals qualified to grow marijuana.
· Permit registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons
for using marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana.
PROPOSAL 08-2
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO ADDRESS HUMAN EMBRYO AND HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH IN MICHIGAN
The proposed constitutional amendment would:
· Expand use of human embryos for any research permitted under federal law subject to the following limits: the embryos --
-- are created for fertility treatment purposes;
-- are not suitable for implantation or are in excess of clinical needs;
-- would be discarded unless used for research;
-- were donated by the person seeking fertility treatment.
· Provide that stem cells cannot be taken from human embryos more than 14 days after cell
division begins.
· Prohibit any person from selling or purchasing human embryos for stem cell research.
· Prohibit state and local laws that prevent, restrict or discourage stem cell research, future
therapies and cures
.
================
Armed with your informed opinions, please make voting your top priority this Tuesday, November 4th. We have a chance of recording a historic turnout, in addition to achieving historic results. The relatively short amount of time that you will spend in the voting booth indicating your preference for leadership will impact years of active governance.
Thank you for your time - both for reading this message, and for voting on Tuesday!
Matt