I’m not as politically savvy as I want to be.  My opinions aren’t well educated enough to tread above water in a great debate.  I’ll get there someday, still navigating the tides, I switched parties for November’s election and I’m still trying to figure out what ideals I truly believe in, as opposed to what I was raised on.  However, I do pride myself on being a patriot.  Among the many perks of turning 18, I thought I’d be happiest about the clubbing part (well, not in OC, but in LA!  I like to dance…), but I was most honored and excited about the right to VOTE!  My first election was the great California Gubernatorial Recall of 2003.  No, I wasn’t even 18 yet, I was 2 months shy, but the Registrar sent me a sample ballot anyways….WHOOPS.  It’s funny, I actually saw Gray Davis a month ago at a Lakers game.  Awkwarddd, couldn’t look him in the eye, I totally voted to recall his butt.  Sorry, Gray.  :D

Anyways…do you know what today is?  It’s a California Statewide Special Election.  You may not know how to vote on the propositions, but I firmly believe that it’s your duty to do so!  I don’t know what you believe, so I’m not going to post anything but unbiased information on Propositions 1A – 1F.   It seems tedious to do all the research, but folks, this one is pretty important.  It may not be as glamorous as the Presidential election or voting on important measures like Proposition 8, but it has everything to do with your tax dollars, funding, the budget, etc.  I think you’re going to want to vote on this one….   

Even though my mother and I are on opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum of politics, we sit down together sometime before any election and read the sample ballot, research online, rationalize and analyze each proposition together for 2-3 hours.  I’ll admit, the propositions on this ballot are quite confusing.  I know I said, “HUH?” quite a bit when I first read the ballot.  But, dive in anyways!  Research stuff online (you won’t be short of research, that’s for sure..) and discuss with your friends and family, it’s part of what makes all this voting stuff so fun!

You can check out the Official Voter Guide here.  As for the rest…you can do that on your own!  When you get that “I Voted” sticker tomorrow…take a picture and upload it to our vitaminOC Flickr group!

[image resized and taken from: AIGA Get Out the Vote Campaign 2008, designed by the AIGA San Francisco Office]