I've attempted to pull together some non-biased resources regarding the Special Election on Thursday, July 19th to uphold or repeal restrictions on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Let me know if you spot any errors, and of course share this with anyone who needs the info.
Polls are open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
That's 2 o'clock in the afternoon - you can't vote till 2 o'clock.
The League of Women Voters is offering rides to the polls for the Special Election on July 19 between 2 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. People should call Phyllis Maddox at 781-354-0907 prior to the election.
Note that they are only doing this from 2 till 5.
You can find your polling location here:
http://www.arlingtonma.gov/public_documents/ArlingtonMA_Clerk/pollinglocations
Note that some polling locations are different than normal, due to construction at the Thompson School.
Take a look at the ballot here:
http://www.arlingtonma.gov/Public_Documents/ArlingtonMA_Clerk/elections/2012/Sampleballot_07192012.pdf
The question reads:
"Shall the town vote to approve the action of the representative town meeting whereby it was voted to amend the Town Bylaws to prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on private property between May 15th and October 15th by a vote of 95 in the affirmative to 85 in the negative."
To clarify matters even more...
- Vote "Yes" to keep the bylaw, creating restrictions on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers during the Summer.
- Vote "No" to repeal the bylaw, and not create any new restrictions on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers during the Summer.
"Where do I go to read the biased opinions of others that I depend upon for issues like this?"
Opponents of the new bylaw:
http://www.arlingtonlandscapeassociation.com
Supporters of the new bylaw:
http://arlingtonleafblowers.blogspot.com
Opponents on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonLandscapeAssociation
Supporters on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/117654194928538/
Video On Demand of the Town Meeting Debate and vote, and the Board of Selectmen meeting where the topic of this election was discussed:
Town Meeting Debate #1
Town Meeting Debate #2
BOS Meeting
FAQ about the election:
(Most of this is just copied and pasted from
http://arlingtonleafblowers.blogspot.com/2012/06/leaf-blower-election-vote-repeal.html#more,
since Adam Auster got it all right. I didn't want to send you to a non-independent source for the info so I've copied it here, but the page does a good job and touches on other issues as well if you're interested)
Q: Why has the Town scheduled this vote?
A: State law provides for a special election (a town-wide referendum) on any new bylaw adopted by Town Meeting on receipt of signatures from at least 3% of all registered voters in Town requesting a repeal election.
Lawn-care companies collected some 1,400 signatures and on May 31 the Town Clerk certified 1,053 of them as valid.
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/arlington/2012/05/voters_will_get_chance_to_reve.html
That exceeded the 3% minimum and triggered the special election.
The law governing this vote is MGL Chapter 43A Section 10.
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter43A/Section10
Q: Why did the Town schedule the vote for July 19? Why not hold it on Election Day in November?
A: Under the terms of the law, the Town must schedule this vote "forthwith." Town Counsel, in consultation with the Attorney General's Office, has determined that this election may not be combined with any regular election and must be held as soon as possible.
The Selectmen may have chosen the Thursday date to minimize costs, since on Thursdays many Town employees work late and would not require extra pay to staff the election.
Q: Why don't the polls open until 2 pm?
That is another requirement of state law.
Q: Is there a minimum-turnout requirement? A "quorum" for this vote?
A: Yes. Under state law, no action of the representative town meeting shall be reversed unless at least twenty per cent of the registered voters shall so vote.
That means that to repeal the bylaw, not only must a majority of votes favor repeal, but at least 20% of all registered voters must do so.
Q: Is there a similar turn-out requirement for those who want to keep the new bylaw?
A: No. In the case of a special repeal election, where a bylaw has already been approved by Town Meeting, state law places the burden on those seeking repeal.
Votes in favor of the bylaw are not counted towards the 20% turnout requirement.
Q: What will happen if the repeal fails? What if it passes?
New bylaws must be approved by the Attorney General and then be legally advertised before going into effect. This would probably occur around October 15. Since the bylaw does not restrict leaf blowers after October 15, the practical effect of the new bylaw would not be felt until May 15 of 2013.
If the repeal passes, with at least 20% of registered voters voting "No" (for repeal), the bylaw is repealed.
Q: Is it too late to register to vote in this election?
A: The last day to register to vote for this election was June 28.
Q: So if I don't want the new bylaw to be repealed, I should just stay home and not vote?
A: Where did you read that? That idea is wrong in a number of different ways. The confusion comes up because opponents of the new bylaw do have a requirement to get at least 20% of registered voters to vote "No" on the ballot.
That is a high number of people turning out and voting in the election, but maybe not so high as you'd think.
Consider that the special override election held on June 7th of last year had 46.6% turnout
(
http://www.arlingtonma.gov/Public_Documents/ArlingtonMA_Clerk/elections/2011/ElectionResults_06072011.pdf)
Voting absentee has also been heavily promoted for people that will be out of town for this election.
Regardless of what side you choose, it is in your interest to turn out and vote. If the 20% number of people voting "No" is met, the outcome will be determined by which side got more votes. In other words, it is possible for there to be more than 20% "No" votes and for the bylaw to still stand, if there are more "Yes" votes (in this scenario, turnout would be over 40%).
Even if the 20% threshold is not met, the results of this election will be looked to as an advisory vote by people trying to determine what the will of the voters in Arlington actually is with regards to this issue.
So you should most definately turn out and vote, regardless of your opinion on this issue.
That's it. Let me know if you spot any errors, and be sure and pass this information along to anyone that needs it.