I didn’t get around to researching this till about 30 minutes before I went to early vote, but here they are:

Constitutional amendment No. 1: To restrict the use of eminent domain. This is the Gen Assembly’s response to the Kelo decision. It isn’t the strongest amendment possible, but it will prevent a lot of abuse. This amendment permits takings in the case of “blight” and give the Gen. Assembly the right to define “blight” by statute. There were other possible ED reform bills that would remove the blight loophole, but they didn’t make it out of the sausage grinder. Vote Yes, as the standard for defining blight now rests with the Gen. Assembly not the developers and bored housewives on the city council.

Constitutional amendment No. 2: To protect the traditions of fishing and hunting. The AJC describes this as “a veiled effort to keep local officials, such as city councils, from enacting their own ordinances regarding hunting and weapons used in hunting within their jurisdictions”. While normally I’m a proponent of local control, I’m also a proponent of the spirit of the 14th Amendment, and our rights enshrined in the 2nd Amendment are lost if the city council can ban possession of firearms. Vote Yes

Constitutional amendment No. 3:To dedicate revenue from special license plates. I’ll let the AJC’s description speak for itself: “This would allow proceeds from new special-issue license plates to go directly to private groups or causes represented on the plates, … [as] approved by the Legislature. State agencies should not be used as fund-raisers for private political purposes”. Vote no.

Referendum A: Tax exemption for farm equipment. I oppose tax exemptions for specific groups. Its that whole equal protection/general welfare thing in the constitution. Vote no.

Referendum B: Tax exemption for veterans groups. In a stunning reversal of all the other referendums, I voted for this one. As a country we screw over our service people all the time. I don’t object to giving them a tax break. Vote Yes.

Referendum C: Tax exemption for charitable institutions. Vote no.

Referendum D: Homestead exemption for senior citizens. Vote no.

Referendum E: Homestead exemption for surviving spouse of peace officer or firefighter. Vote no.

Referendum F: Homestead exemption for a surviving spouse. Vote no.

Gwinnett County also had a referendum on Tax Allocation Districts and a SPLOST, both of which I voted no on. I voted no on the SPLOST because they go towards government schools, and I voted no on the TADs because government shouldn’t take on debt based on the speculation of land value increases.

Here is the AJC’s write up on the ballot questions.