And yet, I’ve seen it touted as a useful, if approximate, metric since I was in secondary school last century (1990s).

Sometimes the “dumbest” stuff gets used just because it’s a translation to the “standard” number line. I don’t know which, if either, was the cause and which was the effect, but it kind of thinking strongly correlates with a “number go up” / infinite growth measure of success.

Long words and long sentences can get non-sensical “grade levels” out of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch–Kincaid_readability_tests#Flesch–Kincaid_grade_level

If the average word is 4 syllables and the average sentence is 4 words, that gives a “grade level” of 33+. I imagine the problem with the ballot measures are extremely long sentences. Lists, conditions, and lists of conditions all make for very long sentences that can still not require any sort of advanced vocabulary. If the average sentence is 65 words and the average word is just 2 syllables, you still get a 33+ “grade level”.

that’s an article I’d actually like to read

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch–Kincaid_readability_tests#Flesch–Kincaid_grade_level (probably)

Even though I have some graduate work, I’m always glad to get the Arkansas ballot measure explainers from: https://www.youtube.com/@ArkanSense

Perhaps an ambitious Kansan or Missourian could do such a project for future ballot measures.

I also hate things like “33rd grade”, which make no damn sense, but are likely just blind application of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch–Kincaid_readability_tests#Flesch–Kincaid_grade_level if not outright “AI hallucinations”.

EDIT: Correct nominative for a citizen of Missouri, per replies.

Yeah, a lot of these I’d have upvoted here indivudally, but even with UBO blocking a lot, this article just looks like it wants to open a pop-under that looks suspiciously like a Win10 dialog box.

I think there may be approaches other than changing the DNC. But certainly, voting for a 3rd party (or worse not voting) in a FPtP election is not among them.

Also, making real progress in some of those alternative approaches might also cause the DNC to change in response.

No. It’s really not. Voting in primaries is the easiest action you could take. You could also get even more involved during primary season, throwing your hat into the ring, or volunteering for a candidate that shares your value. Outside of election season, you could get involve in your local democratic party. You can also put external pressure on the DNC, by working in/on groups with voters the DNC courts/expects. If your elections are using RCV or something similar, you could even make the D candidate not your top choice, as long as they remain above the R candidate. There’s SO MUCH you can do beside “hope”.

I don’t disagree. In many other situations, I do prefer to push from change from inside. In this case, tho; I feel my resources are better spent toward organization that might replace it. I certainly won’t fault you for making a different decision, but the DNC has either ignored, insulted, or attacked me and the people I care about enough that it feels irredeemable to me. Tho, maybe in the future them (or persons like yourself) will convince me otherwise.

Are you even reading my replies? You keep accusing me of doing things that I’m no where close to doing. Please take care of yourself.

We might have a two-party system, but Democrats and Republicans haven’t always been the two parties. Strategic voting is not “giving up”, nor is support organizations other than the DNC and RNC. You sound quite out of touch with reality.

Plus, two-party systems are generally the result of FPtP voting, and there are a number of better voting systems* being used in elections across the country and under those systems even voting for a 3rd party doesn’t “give power to Republicans”.

*: Basically every voting system is better thatn FPtP, but a cloneproof Condorcet methods eliminate the traditional spoiler effect of a 3rd party on it’s most closely aligned major party.

Unfortunately, more projects should get this “in writing”. GNU projects prefer copyright assignment, but (I think) many of them also accept just a clear licensing statement (“This is mine and no one else’s; I give it under the project license.” but in legalese).

If there’s no clear statement, a judge many very well issue a preliminary injunction against the project distribution, just so they have time to gather and review evidence, even if the actions of the contributor are later found to show intent. With a dated statement containing the contributor identifier(s), a judge is much more likely to accept an initial motion to dismiss (even with prejudice).

That’s actually one of the reasons I really remembered the Working Families Party after I learned about it: they understand the only way you can wield political power to change things (hopefully for the better) is to first acquire political power. With the way our current system works in most cases, it better to do that by getting a candidate to win one of the major party primaries rather than challenging both major parties in the general. But, that can change as power shifts or depending on the introduction of voting systems better than FPtP.

I very clearly stated that I would be voting Democrat, and I didn’t encourage anyone not to. Nice strawman you’ve built there.

In this case, I’m for replacement rather than refinement. Working Families Party.

Also, more left-leaning parties would encourage all left-leaning parties to implement Approval or Ranked-Choice voting, preferably a Condorcet method and that would be a good thing.

Didn’t the DNC change rules in recent memory to prevent progressives (or leftists) from getting leadership/controlling positions in the party?

It wasn’t a rule change, but taking advantage of a “proceedual issue” to overturn a vote: https://political.org/2026/08/03/david-hogg-addresses-democratic-partys-future-amid-calls-for-him-to-lead-the-dnc/

The DNC is not a leftist organization. They do just enough to get our votes.

I’m all for strategic voting, but if something like the Working Families Party or even Sunrise Movement is in your area, they are better organizations to support especially if they endorse someone during the primaries.

The DNC will never be a home for leftists, if it ever was. I’ll vote in Democratic primaries, and for plenty of Democrats on the ticket, but the DNC is routinely an embarrassment.

Well, she’s a cuck but at least she’s not dragging the party along.

Their appearance stunned Democrats, coming days after Stevens publicly reaffirmed she would vote for the nominee. It also led her longtime chief of staff to resign, with a number of staff members expected to follow soon, according to a person familiar with the developments who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

“We are shocked and heartbroken,” the aide said in a statement.

The state party chair, Curtis Hertel, said Stevens’ endorsement “shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about.”

“We reject the attempts by Stevens and bad-faith actors to divide our party and undermine our momentum,” Hertel wrote, and won’t let such 11th-hour “distractions” deter the campaign.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who supported Stevens in the primary, denounced her endorsement of Rogers.

“This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens,” Schumer wrote in a social media post.

Still, it wouldn’t be an election season if the DNC didn’t disappoint me regularly.

Pretty sure I learned it from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwA1VeYpvaM and I’m from the next state over.

Rent-seeking behavior will be the death of Capitalism.