Voto si o no?

On November 2nd, Oklahomans head to the polls to vote on lots of local, state and national offices. We Okies also get to decide 11 state questions which may amend our state constitution. Yeah... ELEVEN possible amendments to our state constitution! That's more than the entire bill of rights this country started out with!

So what's so important that we could possibly amend our constitution 11 times? The highlights include:

• Whether to make English the official language of Oklahoma
• Whether Oklahoma should opt out of federal health care legislation
• Whether voters should have to present a government issued ID to vote
• And my personal favorite, whether Oklahoma should be prohibited from considering Sharia law when deciding court cases (HUH???)


And least we not forget, state question 744 asks whether Oklahoma should be required by law to fund education at the average levels of the states surrounding us; while state question 754 bans using neighboring states' averages to determine our own funding levels. (Double HUH???) Yes, you read that correctly. Passing both would nullify 744.

(If you want to feel dumber in only a matter of minutes, you can preview questions here: http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/sq_gen10.pdf)

Not only is the state question ballot lengthy this year, but it's always wordy, difficult to understad, and some may say, the result of lawmakers' ineffectiveness or inability to pass laws that might be controversial, or a sneaky way to pass laws that would certainly get vetoed or challenged in court. (The latter option is still possible, FYI)

Should the public be deciding SO many state questions? Particularly those that may be extremely complex and have far reaching legal consequences? And are the actual questions at hand even necessary? Because if Sharia law allows for the speed on the BA Expressway to be raised to 65 from 55, you can bet that I'll be voting NO on SQ 755!