‘For’ ballot clarity
Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Neil Thomas handed down a vote for clarity Monday morning in the wording of the domestic partner referendum on August’s election ballot.
The wording, written by the Citizens for Government Accountability group that led a petition drive against Chattanooga’s adoption of a domestic partner policy into its city code, offers voters a simple “for” or “against” choice of “the Ordinance providing for the extension of benefits in domestic partnerships and adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the city nondiscrimination policy.”
If you’re a voter who lives in the city and wants the city to retain the policy, mark your ballot “for”; if you don’t, mark “against.” Nothing could be simpler.
The city, oddly, sued for the inclusion of 154 words of explanation about the ordinance that would have caused fewer voters even to consider the question.
Voters notoriously do not read long ballot questions if they cast their ballots on the question at all.