🙃 Welcome to a new week, a new set of goals and the same commitment issues.

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60s, lows around 50.

🎧 Sounds like: "Fire In The Western World" by Dead Moon.

🎫 ICYMI: Noise Pop Festival tickets for Feb.18- 28 are now on sale! Check out the lineup here.

Today’s newsletter is 830 words — a 3-minute read.

With Election Day nearing, reading California's ballot measures may be making you feel like you need to go back to school. Join the club.

The big picture: Those ballot measures require a college-level reading ability to fully understand, per a new Ballotpedia analysis.

Why it matters: Ballot measures give Californians a direct say in state policy, but complicated language can make it harder for voters to understand exactly what they're being asked to approve or reject.

State of play: The state's ballot titles average a 15.3-grade reading level — roughly equivalent to that of a college junior.

• That's below the national average of 17th grade, but still well beyond a typical high school education.
• At an average of 11.9 words apiece, California's ballot titles are relatively short, but that doesn't necessarily make them easy to understand.
• The analysis examined 14 California ballot measures appearing before voters in the Nov. 3 election.

Stunning stat: The summaries accompanying California's ballot measures are even harder to read, averaging a 16.6-grade reading level — beyond a typical four-year college education.

• That's higher than the national average of 15th grade, meaning California's ballot titles are easier to read than the national average, but its summaries — which average 30.6 words each — are more difficult to understand.

Zoom in: Not all California propositions are created equal when it comes to readability.

• Prop 37, concerning a homebuyer program, has a title written at an eighth-grade reading level.
• Meanwhile, Prop 38, which would fund immunotherapy research, has a summary that clocks in at a staggering 25th-grade reading level.
• Prop 44 on healthcare spending and Prop 45 on limiting CEQA reviews also have summaries scoring at a 25th-grade level.

Behind the numbers: Ballotpedia's readability scores estimate the years of education needed to understand a text based on factors such as sentence length and word complexity.

• The scores reflect the complexity of the language, not whether voters actually need a college degree to understand the measures.
• They also don't account for voters' familiarity with the issues or whether the language accurately explains a measure's effects.

Between the lines: California's attorney general is responsible for writing the official titles and summaries for the 14 measures examined in the analysis.

• That puts the responsibility for balancing legal accuracy with language voters can easily understand in the hands of the state's top legal office.

Tell a voter

Democracy has its perks, such as that little sticker to show off your civic pride.

Zoom in: California's "I Voted" design features the iconic grizzly bear and a nod to the Golden State.

1 odd sticker: Colorado's sticker features a grinning mustang with a glowing red eye — giving off serious demon horse vibes — rearing up against a mountain backdrop.

1 fun sticker: Meanwhile, Louisiana's colorful design brings a little Mardi Gras flair to the ballot box.

☑️ Don't forget to wear yours come Election Day!

🦠 Health officials are investigating two cases of active tuberculosis potentially linked to the Crazy Horse strip club on Market Street. (SFGATE)

🌧️ Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a local emergency last week as the city braces for a potentially historic El Niño winter. (KQED)

🏬 The shuttered downtown mall has a prospective buyer, with New York-based Seven Equity Group selected to purchase most of the former Westfield property. (KRON 4)

🚇 A driver abandoned a car inside a Muni tunnel near the Embarcadero Saturday, disrupting train service through the evening before fleeing the scene, per SFPD. Service was restored yesterday. (Mission Local)

🕊️ The surviving children of retired SFPD Deputy Chief Ann Mannix delivered emotional tributes to their mother and sister Katie at a funeral over the weekend. (SF Standard)

🗳️ Your Axios San Francisco reporters do the work so you can quickly understand what matters when you head to the polls.

📍 Become a member today and support local journalism this election season.

Thank you for reading and supporting local election coverage.

🪓 I channeled my inner Pearl for a Halloween party this weekend. The aspiring movie star turned murderous villain from Ti West's "X" horror trilogy is one of my favorite portrayals of female rage on screen.

• If you haven't seen the movie, it's a slasher worth adding to your list.

⭐ Nothing says spooky season quite like a little vintage glamour, murderous ambition and a desperate dream of stardom.

• My friend also got the red memo, showing up as a devil.

🎃 May your Halloween plans be just as fun!

🗳️ Nadia just submitted her ballot! Don't forget to vote.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz.