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The thing is that people who propose propositions for voter approval count on a large number not voting at all. You will have some voters who vote "No" for all propositions, figuring things are going pretty good without them, so why take a chance. Another group will vote "Yes" for everything, reasoning that their elected officials wouldn't propose them if they hadn't determined they are needed. A lot of voters just stop checking boxes after they get through the political office elections.
Having what amounts to a lot of clutter on the ballot is a real problem. I know I shouldn't say it's clutter, every proposition is important to somebody, but it just creates problems with the voting process. I've always assumed a lot of people just don't fill out the entire ballot. Maybe we should do like in the grocery story, you can get an express ballot with the major candidates, and if you want the full Finnegans Wake sized ballot that's a separate line. Just joking, but who knows, it may get to that.
Generally I prefer to let legislators legislate, I voted them in so they and their staff can handle policy analysis and vote for things that represent my interests.
A lot of routine stuff ends up being sent to the voters because the voters passed initiatives that require everything in a certain category to be done by initiative.
If I had fuck-you money I'd seriously consider bankrolling a measure that wholesale repealed most of the previous "this must be a ballot measure" measures (so the legislature can do their jobs without having to kick everything to voters) + dramatically raised the bar for getting future measures on the ballot.
If you read the article, San Francisco has one of the lowest thresholds anywhere for getting things on the ballot. Dramatically raising the threshold would put it in line with other places.
I'm fine with ballot measures for something like durably locking in civil rights or or otherwise setting broad guidelines for legislators to work within. (Though both of those are really more of a state issue.) Or something extraordinary like recalling a bad elected official. It's a bit ridiculous that that's the same process needed to approve a bond to fund the Muni every few years.
Voter fatigue is absolutely a real thing!
Some states have experimented with coordinating all local/state/ballot initiatives/federal elections which has shown a slight increase in voter turnout and participation.
This is very interesting because I totally didn't realize that it was a thing. But then again I can see how someone could go in there and get overwhelmed. Its already a lot to wait in line, take time off work to go, etc. It seems like it wouldn't be as difficult as it is but of course this is America we are talking about LOL.