The following was sent to Cal Catholic on Nov. 3 by one of our readers.
The total number of votes cast for the only two candidates for governor of California, Jerry Brown and Neel Kashkari, allowed on the November 4, 2014 ballot will determine the number of voter signatures required to qualify initiatives, referendums, and recalls until the next gubernatorial election in November 2018.
Pro-family conservatives saw the referendum of the co-ed bathroom bill, AB 1266, fail to qualify as the signatures fell only a small percentage below the required number.
Several previous campaigns have failed to reach the signature threshold to qualify.
The number of signatures needed to qualify referendums and statutory initiatives is five percent of the number of votes cast for all candidates (now restricted to two) for governor at the last gubernatorial election.
Constitutional initiatives like 2008’s Proposition 4 (parental notification) and Proposition 8 (marriage) require eight percent, and state-wide recalls (like the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003) require twelve percent.
The number of required signatures is high, because there was strong interest and voter participation in the governor’s race in 2010 with Gov. Jerry Brown (backed by the full force of the public employee unions), opposed by Republican eBay billionaire Meg Whitman who spent around $125 million of her own money. In addition, hundreds of thousands of votes were cast for four minor party and eight write-in candidates.
In contrast, voter turn-out is expected to be low for this 2014 election.
Votes cast for either of the only two candidate for governor are likely to be even lower.
Gov. Brown is not even campaigning and Kashkari does not support the Republican Party platform, has little campaign funding, and is perceived as an almost certain loser.
Pro-life voters are repulsed by the pro-abortion, pro-Planned Parenthood record of Jerry Brown and by pro-abortion Neel Kashkari.
Yet one more attempt by Republicans to suppress the vote. As others have pointed out here, Catholics are required to participate in civic life, and here is CCD urging people to sit on their hands.
Anonymous, you apparently feel it is a Catholic’s civic duty to vote for a pro-abortion/pro-homosexual candidate. How stupid it this?
Lin, I am just reading the teachings of the Church on the matter. Catholics must vote for the lesser of the candidates. Write in candidates are permitted, so go ahead and vote for some living Saint. But you must vote.
Anonymous, Voting IS our civic duty and we must remember there are more races being run on this ballot than just that for the Govener’s office. Still, we have an ethical duty to vote for a candidate who will uphold our moral values. Neither of the candidates fit that bill.
SO WRITE ONE IN!!!
Anonymous, as usual, you make things up I your own head.
The Democrats (under ACORN and others) are the ones who participate in VOTER FRAUD.
And let’s not forget about the Democrats who vote more than once, and those areas such as Chicago with dead Democrats who vote in most elections. :(
CC is bringing to our attention that there is no good choice this election for a Pro Life, Pro Family, Pro Christian Catholic voter. I will NOT vote for evil just because it comes looking different than the current evil before us.
So write someone into those offices! Not finding someone you like is not an excuse to ignore your obligation to participate in civic life.
Anonymous, why do you always jump to conclusions.
Catholics should always vote for the lessor of the evils, even it if is a third party candidate, or a write-in.
That’s exactly what I said. :)
To Anonymous Says; Catholics are not required to vote for baby killers! Where did you ever get the idea that we are?
Once again, a RINO running for office. Thank you Cal-Catholuc for bringing this to our attention. Just in the nick of time as well. I had to leave a note for my husband on his practice ballot as we will miss each other in the morning before he goes off to vote on his way to work.
Thanks for that cogent political reasoning. I fully agree.
Great idea. Don’t let the political thugs set the agenda!
Vote for all offices other than Governor. That is a real pro life vote!
WHEN THERE IS NO “ACCEPTABLE” CANDIDATE – –
Serious Catholic Voters Guide:
https://www.politicalresponsibility.com/voterguide.htm
WHEN THERE IS NO “ACCEPTABLE” CANDIDATE –
Catholic Voters Guide:
https://www.politicalresponsibility.com/voterguide.htm
There is absolutely no moral requirement to vote. As a Catholic, I don’t commit a sin because I didn’t vote. Politics is a total farce.
Asbury Fox, if you are really Catholic, you are morally required to VOTE.
Have you not read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” from the Magisterium – that all Catholics are bound by ?
CCC: ” 2240 Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it MORALLY OBLIGATORY to pay taxes, to exercise the right to VOTE , and to defend one’s country:
Pay to all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
[Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens and endure all things as foreigners. . . . They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws. . . . So noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed to desert it.
The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.”
Save this link for the next election and share it with others.
Serious Catholic Voters Guide:
https://www.politicalresponsibility.com/voterguide.htm
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I once confessed not having voted and I was told that it is not a sin to not vote.
The Church can encourage me to exercise the right to vote, but it cannot compel me under the penalty of sin. Does a Catholic who does not vote, commit a mortal sin?
Well you would be disobedient to the teaching authority of the Church. So maybe you want to study up on the catechism and I think you’ll find it’s not so easy as you think.
18-Year-Old Pro-Life Freshman Elected To W.Va. House Of Delegates, Becomes Youngest State Lawmaker In US
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (CBSDC/AP) — Eighteen-year-old Saira Blair will become the youngest state lawmaker in West Virginia history.
The Republican defeated Democrat Layne Diehl on Tuesday to win a seat in the state House of Delegates to become the youngest state lawmaker in the U.S..
“History has been made tonight in West Virginia, and while I am proud of all that we have accomplished together, it is the future of this state that is now my singular focus,” Blair said in a statement. “Since launching my campaign, I have met with and listened to the concerns of my fellow citizens, and as your delegate I will work tirelessly, and fight for each and every one of you. Now, it is time to get to work.”
Blair’s birthday was in July, so she barely met the 18-year-old minimum age for West Virginia House delegates.
Blair is a freshman attending West Virginia University. She plans to skip spring classes so she can serve as a lawmaker. The Legislature meets for 60 days from January to March.
In a May primary, the Martinsburg teen defeated incumbent Republican Del. Larry Kump, who is almost four times her age.
Blair is pro-life, pro-gun rights and pro-business. Her father, Craig Blair, is a sitting Republican state senator from the Eastern Panhandle.”
https://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/11/05/18-year-old-freshman-elected-to-w-va-house-of-delegates-becomes-youngest-state-lawmaker-in-us/