voting faux pas

[KenHodson]

Related background - two past issues here in CO have me reeling. Both of these passed with huge margins. One was a petition-led ballot initiative in November about restricting gifts to state employees and the second was a special mail-in ballot that had to be mailed in 2 weeks ago stemming from long election lines. Both were "worthy" of consideration, IMHO, but should not have passed.

When I was in high school, my civics teacher laid out a few guidelines for us that were approaching the voting booths for the first time. Paraphrasing from memory yeilds:
1. Study the candidates and make sure you understand what they would do for you and your causes. Never 'vote the party ticket' without putting any time and effort into it.
2. Study the other issues. Really, really study the issues. Read the exact legalese. Read the newspaper and get their feel. Read the League of Women Voter's Blue Book. Read anything you can.
3. For Amendments, Referenda, etc. understand that "yes" and "no" votes are not equal, although the way to select them is identical. A "yes" vote changes the State constitution (or the City's charter) while a "no" vote leaves it alone.
4. Go through the ballot and make your selections, as best you can, days or weeks before the actual election.
5. Remember that you don't have to vote for every office nor every issue if you do not have a comfortable grasp of it. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO SKIPS OVER ITEMS? I THINK I MAY BE.
6. Never, ever make your selections as you wait in line to vote. Or worse, don't make your selections at the booth itself. THIS IS JUST RUDE.

Here, both the items I mentioned passed easily, but shouldn't have based on these guidelines. The ethics bill regarding state employee gifts, Amendment 41, was so poorly crafted that college students utilizing "work-study" may lose grants and other aid.
The election reform issue really chaps my hide! We had voting line problems in November, true. But if voters didn't make their selections while standing in line the voter traffic would have gone way down. Also, this mail-in ballot came out in December. I'm guessing with production lead times and the awful weather we had here, some wordsmith put all of a week crafting the friggin' thing. TOPS! How in hell could some half-baked, ramrodded initiative go through the system and pass so quickly?
That is my rant, sorry it is somewhat specific to where i live. But what are your thoughts on voting guidelines and common sense courtesies. I think a whole hell lot of people drive to their polling place clueless. But they are damn intent on using their civil liberties whether they know the issues or not.