Opuscula How to pass Tax referendum

PUT THE TAX PROPOSAL ON A PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT.

IN BROWARD COUNTY Florida, there was a tax question: Are taxpayers willing to pay higher school taxes?

SOME STATISTICS

Broward County has 1,553,269 registered voters.

Of those voters, 322,657 were disenfranchised – not allowed to vote – since in Florida primaries, only voters aligned with a political party, normally Democrat or Republican, can vote in the primaries.

Sounds like a case for the courts; taxing people prevented from voting yea or nay on the proposal.

The total number of eligible (i.e., registered Democrats and Republicans) voters in the primary election in Broward County is now reduced to 1,230,126.

The total voter turnout for the primary election was 22.1% of the remaining registered voters. That’s 271,857 voters.

Of the remaining eligible voters who bothered to vote – in early voting, by mail, or on Primary Day,

64.2% or 128,108 voters voted FOR the tax
35.8% or 82,524 voted AGAINST the tax.

The total voting on the school tax was 210,682, somewhat less than the total 271,857; meaning of the 271,857 registered voters who did their civic duty, 61,175 chose NOT to vote on the school tax referendum.

RECAP

Total eligible voters	1,553,269
Total voters in Primary	271,857 (22.1%)
Total tax referendum voters	210,682
Total voting FOR tax	148,108 (64.2%)

IN OTHER WORDS, 148,108 people voted to tax 1,553,269 eligible voters.

If you want to pass a tax bill, put it on a primary ballot.

Primary elections have notoriously low turn-outs, even when there are tight races as there where for the Democrats gubernatorial candidates.

Helping reduce the total turnout is the disenfranchisement of all independent – i.e., voters not registered as Democrat or Republican – voters. (Independents can vote in general elections but not closed primaries.)

Adding insult to injury, many people don’t even register to vote because they want to dodge jury duty. Surprise, the jury pools are filled by pulling names from multiple sources, including driver’s license registration and tax roles. Perhaps these people should NOT be eligible to vote even if registered; jury duty is as much a citizenship obligation as voting.

Some hungry attorney ought to make an issue of tax referendums on primary ballots, if only because independent voters who pay taxes are disenfranchised; they have no say. (Yes, even renters pay property taxes; not directly as do property owners, but as a portion of the rent they pay the property owner.)

Truly, taxation without representation,

Didn’t we fight a war over that?

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