The Day After – Election Day

A deep breath is what we all have to take. Days, months, years, of planning, scheming, hard work, volunteering, and campaigning come to an end with the selection of our next generation of leaders, who will decide what direction to take our country in the next two to four years. The millions of phone calls come to an end, the campaign signs and literature go in the garbage, and the pundits size up the next generation of elected officials for the next two or four years.

Voting

It came to an end rather abruptly by the filling in of a few scantron ballots by a few million voters. The machines at the end of the night, instantly tallied them up, and the results were announced. Some candidates became elected officials, while others will spend the next few months paying off their debts and pondering what wrong. Elections always have a definitive timetable, and they come to an end.

Power Line Right of Way

Β We now move onto the month of November, the election but a memory. The leaves are gone from the trees, the days are colder, and evenings approach around 4:30 PM. The days are often crisp, but there is always a chance for a quick inch or snow when the weather is right. Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner. But a few more weeks remain before winter fully sets in.

NY State Constitution Article 1 Section 9.

As of November 6, 2013, pursuant to a vote of the people the previous day …

Β§9. 1. No law shall be passed abridging the rights of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government, or any department thereof; nor shall any divorce be granted otherwise than by due judicial proceedings; except as hereinafter provided, no lottery or the sale of lottery tickets, pool-selling, book-making, or any other kind of gambling, except lotteries operated by the state and the sale of lottery tickets in connection therewith as may be authorized and prescribed by the legislature, the net proceeds of which shall be applied exclusively to or in aid or support of education in this state as the legislature may prescribe, and except pari-mutual betting on horse races as may be prescribed by the legislature and from which the state shall derive a reasonable revenue for the support of government,Β Β and except casino gambling at no more than seven facilities as authorized and prescribed by the legislature shall hereafter be authorized or allowed within this state; and the legislature shall pass appropriate laws to prevent offenses against any of the provisions of this section.

It does sound a bit schizophrenic. They should really reconsider re-writing that paragraph to make a non-run-on sentence. Laws should be understandable, and should only deal with one topic, rather then randomly stringing gambling and divorce to a section dealing with the rights of the people to assemble.

Foggy Woods

A look at our state's constitution and how it intermingles freedom to assemble, gambling, and divorce law.