Yesterday, November 4th, midterm elections were held throughout the United States. The overarching message is that the republican party has gained political dominance: gaining control of both Congressional houses for the first time since 2006.
The state level results on ballot questions is more interesting though:
- 2 states (Oregon and Alaska) legalized marijuana along with Washington D.C., and Florida rejected marijuana for medical uses
- Every state that was asked about raising the minimum wage had a majority in favor of it (South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, Arkansas, and Alaska).
- Tennessee banned income tax, Georgia voted to ban it from being increased, and Illinois voted to increase income tax
- Colorado and Oregon both voted to not label genetically modified foods
- California voted to reduce most non-violent crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor
So although we all basically knew that the average person understands the ridiculousness of marijuana prohibition, it seems surprisingly that the majority oppose the labelling of GMOs. It is also worth mentioning that the majority of people in Florida did vote in favor of its medical use, but that Florida requires a supermajority of 60%.
Now, before anyone starts accusing the votes of being rigged, please take some time to actually consider what a GMO is and how it compares to “conventional” or even “organic” crops. Also, how likely is it that legislators would rig an election that results in them not receiving the pay raise they wanted in Arizona?