Election 2016

Election 2016 – Things I’m grateful for:

Here’s a TLDR list. The longer version can be found below.

• Peaceful, professional transition of power
• The voting process was easy and the ballots were balanced
• Excellent open data provided quickly by a portfolio of media sources:

Fox News | CNN | Google | New York Times

• Referendum to decriminalize Marijuana in my home state passed! Less people in prison, less government involvement in an individuals choices (which don’t effect others) and the state government is likely to see a tax revenue injection that will surprise us all
• Lessons Learned

Peaceful, Professional Transition of Power

I’ve been in foreign countries and seen ugly elections. One time specifically, I was advised to stay home and not leave the house for the day. It was a violent day where people were hurt, bombs were thrown and arrests were made.

President Obama invited President-elect Trump to the White House. They will work together on details and soon enough, President Obama will have his life back. He can continue to lead afterwards in harmony with the new national leadership.

I would have preferred to see Hillary Clinton win. At the same time, I recognize that the majority of US citizens feel passionately that what she represents, is not the best for the country. That’s how we play the game. The representational democracy picked him and I believe in that process more than anything else.

 

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

– Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947

 

Easy Voting Process with Quality Ballots

Voting was easy. Registering took a few minutes online. At the University of Nevada, there wasn’t even a line to stand in when I voted early.

The Nevada Sample Ballot

The sample ballot that arrived was a quick 15 minute read and told the story of the addendum opportunities and the candidates. It did so from both perspectives and had research based arguments. If it was longer, it would have been burdensome to read. If it were shorter, I feel it would have been to incomplete to give a full picture of the questions.

Excellent Open Data and Election Coverage

I watched the election on Fox News, CNN, Google, Twitter and more. Though some were better than others, they all told a very similar story.

Hat tip to CNN. They had the best design and technology on their side.

The New York Times was the first to give Mr. Trump a 95% + likelihood of winning from what I saw.

Overall, there was a lot of excellence happening all over the media. We in the United States enjoy excellent election coverage.

Decriminalizing Marijuana in Nevada

So proud of the referendum outcome for question #2 in Nevada. I prefer beer, but knowing that the pot smokers will soon be free of the fear of imprisonment is PHENOMENAL!

What happened to Colorado may happen to Nevada! What does this mean for the state?

• More taxes (Colorado brought in $66 million Feb 2015-Feb 2016)
• Less driving fatalities (image #1)
• Less prison population (image #2)

Image #1

 

Image #2

 

Lessons Learned

I didn’t think Trump had any chance of winning and I didn’t want him to. This goes to show that I didn’t have any idea what was going on. My perception last night was that we were sitting down to watch her take the election, but I got it 100% wrong.

Some very smart people had it right.

• Peter Thiel
• Scott Adams

This election taught me that I need to listen better and try to find the lower level clues as to what is actually going on in the world.

Your thoughts?

I’d love to hear what you’re grateful for this election. Please let me know in the comment section below.