A companion to How I Determine Truth — for measures the Yes campaign wrote and is selling — Ross Howell, September 2026
The point
Those who create and promote a ballot measure sell the benefit. What they hold back — cost, permanence, who gains, enforcement, what else the text does — can matter more than the promise on the flyer.
Silence is evidence. If the promotional pitch never mentions debt service, lock-in, who collects, or what dies if it passes, treat that omission as intentional until you’ve checked the official title, the Legislative Analyst, and the text.
This is not a Yes/No machine. It is homework so you are not deciding from the ad alone.
How this sits next to Truth Method
How I Determine Truth is the general habit; this page aims it at ballot marketing.
Numbered homework
- Capture the Yes claim in one sentence.
- Open the official ballot title + LAO fiscal + the measure text (not the flyer).
- Ask: what would make that claim incomplete? Who pays? What locks in forever? Who benefits financially? Who can collect or sue?
- Write the “quiet” side in plain English before you decide Yes or No.
- Then decide — and show up.
Worked starting point
California’s November 2026 statewide slate is a live practice set. Proposition 40 remains the worked example.
Mrs. Gheighan’s rule: Question all that you hear, read or see, whether it is from them, or from us.
— Ross Howell (rossabh)