COLUMN: ELECTIONS BROUGHT CHANGE, ATTENTION TO ISSUES

Last week, thankfully, the 2010 election took place. New faces are now
in office in our state and federal government. Hopefully the fresh
blood will bring about change and make our country better. More
importantly, the political ads are over.

Like most elections, not only did we just vote for people, we also
voted for propositions. Here in Wisconsin, we voted on whether to
allow government officials to use money from the state transportation
fund to use in other projects. The referendum, which passed in all 53
counties in which it was on the ballot, seeks to amend the state
constitution to prevent the use of these funds that are generated by
vehicle registration and fuel taxes.

The measure came about after departing Gov. Jim Doyle transferred a
total of $1.3 billion from the transportation fund to the general fund
in three biennial budgets.

The referendum was typical of many issues voted on about taxes,
campaign reform and other benign matters Some states, however, decided
on marijuana. The proposal, officially titled the "Regulate, Control
and Tax Cannabis Act," would have made it legal for adults age 21 and
over to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, grow it in small private
plots and even consume it in nonpublic places, provided no children
were present. The RCTC Act would have also allowed local governments
to permit the commercial cultivation of marijuana and the sale and use
of marijuana at licensed establishments.

The measure did not pass, and supporters of the proposition saw their
hopes go up in smoke. California residents came out in droves to
voting joints to oppose the referendum, claiming they were able to
weed out the propaganda from the truth.

In an ironically comedic twist, experts believe the measure failed
because of low turnout from younger voters, who were presumably
slacking. Apparently these voters lost their "Yes We Can-nabis"
attitude. Supporters of the proposal still say their efforts haven't
gone to pot, as they expect a similar referendum to be on the 2012
ballot.

Meanwhile, voters in the western Massachusetts city of Pittsfield
voted on a referendum that would have urged state representatives to
introduce legislation amending the state's nudity definition. If
passed, females of any age would have been allowed to be exposed from
the waist up in public places where males were also allowed to be topless.

Like the pot-heads in California, supporters of the Pittsfield
proposition also lost their shirts at the polls. The measure was voted
down by about 70 percent of the voters, which apparently caused the
opposition to blow their tops.

Finally, Denver's ballot contained a proposal to establish a
commission for the purpose of tracking extraterrestrials. Residents
would also be allowed to post sightings on the city's Web page. Jeff
Peckman, who introduced the measure, claims the government is
currently tracking extraterrestrial sightings but not making their
findings public.

Voters resoundingly voted down the measure, deciding the proposition
was too out of this world. Experts speculated, however, if the results
would have been different had nonresident aliens been allowed to vote.

Reg Wydeven is a partner with the Appleton-based law firm of McCarty
Law LLP.