So while cable cruising in the evening I find that one of my local PBS stations is showing Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture”, which I believe was filmed at Carnegie Mellon in 2007. Then the camera pans to the audience …. and I swear that there was Michael Shamos!

I’m not sure all of our readers know about the “double majority” requirement.  This is part of the Oregon constitution, and requires not only that 50% of the voters approve tax and bond measures, but 50% of all registered voters as well.  Hence the name “double majority.”

This requirement has worked as the proponents intended, making it harder to pass new revenue measures.  Now there is a referendum on the ballot to overturn this requirement.

What I find interesting in the debate is an emerging theme that voting by mail actually decreases turnout in these circumstances.  Knowing that an “absention” is, in fact, more powerful than a
“no” vote (since a “no” vote counts toward the majority needed for the turnout threshold), some tax opponents may purposely refuse to turn out.

But would they behave differently at the ballot box?  I’m not sure.

Stories here and here.

Election Law @ Moritz has released interactive data on election law issues in the states; here’s a link to a helpful pdf summary of the data. You can access the data at this page.

NPR has a report on the DOJ plans for insuring smooth elections in November. The report discusses a meeting that DOJ officials had yesterday with civil rights and election advocates yesterday, as well as upcoming Senate and House hearings on DOJ efforts to monitor elections this fall.

The Senate Judiciary committee is holding their hearings today, here’s a link to their hearing page.