2005 PRESS RELEASES

July 28, 2005

EFF files challenge to federal judge’s voter registration

(Olympia) – For years, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Betty B. Fletcher has been illegally registered to vote in Seattle. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) yesterday filed a challenge to her registration and that of her husband, Robert L. Fletcher. Under the law, King County elections officials must send notices of the registration challenge, calling for a hearing in ten days. The Fletchers have until three days before the hearing to reregister in person at the elections office.

The Fletchers claim their residence is the King County Administration Building and that their mailing address is 1010 5th Ave. in Seattle, which is an United States Courthouse Building. Providing false registration application information is a Class C felony.

“This is not a trivial matter,” said Bob Edelman, election reform project manager at EFF who filed the complaints. “Apparently she registered with a false address for privacy reasons, but that is no excuse for breaking the law. She could have applied for address confidentiality, but she chose to ignore the law instead.

“What this also means is that the Fletchers have been casting illegal votes because their true residence is in a different legislative district,” he said.

Judge Fletcher was appointed to the 9th Circuit by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

“State law makes it clear that no registration application is complete unless it contains a valid residential address, and King County officials, as well as some other auditors, refuse to do their jobs by checking out the validity of applications,” Edelman said. “This shows once again why we have to have a complete voter registration update here in Washington to correct the rolls after years of official neglect.”

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