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If you’ve ever wanted to have more participation in the “meth lab of democracy,” then you’re in luck.
State officials launched a website today (azvoices.gov) that allows voters to make “respectful” comments on pending legislation and even float their own ideas.
Here are the four brilliant ideas for legislation submitted by citizens so far: A law to mandate driver’s license renewal every five years, a law that would allow a man to choose not to be a parent if he gets a woman pregnant, some sort of mandatory education on “the principal [sic] of limited government,” and anti-Muslim education for high school students.
And we didn’t think it got worse than the people who actually come up with the laws.
Republican Senator Bob Worsley and Secretary of State Ken Bennett teamed up on this website project, which does have some interesting features.
To use the website, you actually have to provide personal information that synchs with voter-registration information. With that, at least everyone on the website is actually an Arizona voter.
Plus, you can see information about the kinds of voters who cast a vote for or against the bill online. This information is broken down by age, gender, and legislative district.
There aren’t many votes cast, because the site just launched a few hours ago, but here’s how people have voted on the bill that would prevent cities from banning backyard chickens:
If enough people utilize the website, then lawmakers might get a better picture of what their constituents think about a certain bill.
Maybe if this had been around back in 2010, citizens could have preserved their right to create human-animal hybrids. Or maybe citizens could have convinced the governor that a circumcision certificate could be used to prove someone’s citizenship. The possibilities are endless.
Got a tip? Send it to: Matthew Hendley.
Follow Valley Fever on Twitter at @ValleyFeverPHX.
Follow Matthew Hendley at @MatthewHendley.
