Dani’Elle Despanie voted  last week, with certainty she chose a candidate for each available office.But, like many Louisiana residents, Despanie lost with each selection — seven proposed constitutional amendments lurked at the bottom of the Nov. 4 ballot.More than 300,000 voters throughout the state chose not to vote on the constitutional amendments, according to a Public Affairs Research Council news release. About 1.6 million voters cast their ballot for the first proposed amendment compared to nearly 2 million votes cast in the presidential election. “Often more votes are cast for the candidates on a ballot than they are for the propositions,” said Jennifer Pike, research director with the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. “Propositions can be difficult to understand. They can tend to take people by surprise.”Robert Hogan, political science professor, said many people are reluctant to make changes to the Louisiana Constitution.”Most people have not done their homework,” he said. “There are certain key things that will touch people off.”A decreasing number of people voted for each amendment, with about 1.6 million casting votes for the first amendment compared to 1.5 million casting votes for the seventh and final amendment. Hogan suggested the readability of the amendments was responsible — he said the first three were easily readable while the final four contained more complex language.”This is a high-stimulus election, so you’ve got a lot more people coming to the polls than typically do,” Hogan said. “[People] that don’t pay attention to politics that much, they really don’t know anything about these constitutional amendments.”Chelsea Alford, political science freshman, said she is registered to vote in Alabama, and she voted using an absentee ballot with constitutional amendments at the bottom.”I didn’t vote on any of them,” she said. “I just didn’t think I could understand any of the terminology they used … I didn’t want to make the wrong decision.”Hogan said none of the amendments would likely have an “immediate” effect on students.The first proposed amendment, a term-limiting amendment for state boards and commissions, passed with a 69 percent majority.”People like term limits, especially in this state,” Hogan said. “This is a state that typically does not hold politicians in very high regard.”The second proposed amendment, an amendment that would require a week-in-advance notice for special legislative sessions, passed with a 60 percent majority.The third proposed amendment, an amendment that would allow the Legislature to appoint a temporary replacement for any legislator called into military duty, passed with a 62 percent majority. The fourth proposed amendment was voted down by a 55 percent majority. The amendment would have dedicated state severance taxes to the parishes in which they originated.The fifth proposed amendment would have enabled the transfer of special property tax to a homeowners’ new home when their previous property was expropriated. It was voted down by a little more than 50 percent majority.”It’s a good amendment. It’s not really something that’s going to be used every day,” said Harold Ritchie, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. “The way it looked to me, people read the first three. After that, they quit looking at them.”The sixth proposed amendment would no longer require public officials to offer expropriated property to its previous owner before it can be sold. It was voted down by 51 percent.The seventh proposed amendment would have allowed political subdivisions, like school boards and police jurors, to invest money reserved for future retirees in the stock market. It was voted down by 56 percent. —-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]