Ballot Beat

The voting booths could get a little noisy in the Golden State.

You won't find the Proposition Song on the Top 40, but Californians may be humming the new hit single as they wade through a long list of measures on their March 7 ballot.

Oh, there once was a proposition,
its number was One-A
The first of twenty measures
to decide by Election Day…

The three and a half-minute ditty is a production of the non-profit and non-partisan California Voter Foundation (CVF), and you can only hear it on the web at www.calvoter.org. You can see it, too. Those seeking information can follow along with the help of a cyber "bouncing ball," creating a virtual karaoke club for voters on the web.
"We just felt it was time to try something different," says Kim Alexander, lyricist, vocalist, music producer and in her spare time, the President and founder of the CVF. Alexander believes the election should be like a sing-a-long - everyone should feel comfortable participating, even if they don't know all the words.

Fourteen pays for libraries,
Fifteen pays for crime labs
If Sixteen passed, we'd build homes for vets.
Of the bond acts it's the last.

Alexander says voters face a real problem of "ballot fatigue." When confronted with two dozen ballot measures on top the usual list of candidates, many are apt to simply tune out. Instead of criticizing their apathy, she says her group seeks to help voters "do their job better."

"This is really just an overview to acclimate people to the ballot," says Alexander.

Links from the Proposition Song take web surfers to the CVF's extensive online voter guide, which includes lists of top campaign contributors and more than 200 campaign websites.

Pay attention and sing along!…
Cuz the ballot is too darn long!

Alexander hopes voters of all ages will enjoy the song. But she concedes that younger people, who use the web more often to gather information and who tend to feel more cynical towards the election process, will appreciate its irreverent tone the most.

After all, the 34-year old fondly remembers how a catchy song on Saturday mornings taught her and many other children how a "just a Bill sittin' on Capitol Hill" becomes a law.

"I think of it as School House Rock for the web," she says.