Seven statewide ballot questions for Maryland this November promise to promise to give your reading comprehension skills a workout. They total over 700 words. And let’s say they’re not terribly clear.
As the Washington Post points out, “A question about approving a massive casino, for example – one likely to be built by MGM at National Harbor — doesn’t include the words ‘casino,’ ‘MGM’ or ‘National Harbor.’”
The Dream Act referendum is worded in such a way as to imply that the act’s passage would affect all Maryland residents, and not just the undocumented.
The veto referendum on the recently redrawn (and heavily gerrymandered) congressional districts reads as if you’re hardly approving anything — in fact, it implies that to vote against it might be unconstitutional. Here’s the entire ballot measure: “Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the United States Constitution.” Whaaa? It sounds like all you are affirming is that the boundaries should be “based on recent census figures.”
Read the full text of the ballot questions here. Then… I don’t know… invite some friends over to decipher them, or something. Let me know what you come up with.
