By Ian Ziller
It is almost November, which means it is almost Election Day as well. There are many ballot initiatives that are up for a vote. So you may ask yourself why these are important to us. These ballot initiatives are one of the only ways that we can directly impact the way our country is run. Most of the time laws are made by people we elect rather than by the people as a whole. But this year we have the choice of whether or not to decide how the state is run.

There are two major initiatives this election. The first one is a ballot question for the city of South Portland. It’s a proposed law, like a similar law in Portland, that would make marijuana legal in South Portland. The other initiative that is being voted on this November is one that would ban the use of traps in the use of bear hunting.

The people who want to support marijuana legalization believe that it is less dangerous than other legal drugs and that there is no reason why it should be illegal. Opponents of the legalization of marijuana say that it is very dangerous to legalize marijuana and they have specific health concerns about it. There are others who think legalizing it would be a decline in morality.

There are two sides to the bear hunting initiative as well. The people who support this initiative say that it is unnecessary to use traps to hunt bears, and that the practice of baiting and trapping should be outlawed. The opponents of such a law say that it should stay legal and one reason is that bear hunting helps the economy. They also view it as part of their hunting rights.

So whatever side of the ballot initiatives you support, you should vote. Election day is coming, so you should take this opportunity to make your voice heard and vote to make a difference in the way our state is run. For in a democracy, laws come from the people, and only the people have the right to influence these laws.