2005 PRESS RELEASES

August 23, 2005

EFF urges Maleng to enforce election laws

Olympia, WA -- The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) today called on King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng to enforce the state's election laws vigorously and prosecute violators.

In a letter to Maleng , EFF's election reform project manager Bob Edelman said, “There has been a failure to enforce election laws in our state and so violations have mushroomed to the extent that integrity of the system has been seriously compromised and the ability of officials to restore fair elections is in question.”

Edelman questioned why criminal charges have not been brought against Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Senior Judge Betty Fletcher, her husband, Professor Fletcher or Donald Sims, Jr., nephew of King County Executive Ron Sims. 

An EFF investigation found the Fletchers to be illegally registered.  EFF challenged the registrations and the Fletchers reregistered at their home address.

Edelman pointed out that Maleng did prosecute a woman who cast a vote for her recently deceased husband because she thought she knew how he was going to vote.  Maleng referred to that case during a recent speech to the Downtown Seattle Republican Club.

“You could be drawn to that case with sympathy, but you cannot tolerate that type of activity, so we filed on that case, and there's a fine imposed, and that can be the end of it,” Maleng said.  “But you've got to send a signal that the election system means what it is,” he said.

“Crimes should not be ignored because we are sympathetic with the motive,” Edelman wrote.  “And neither should there be a double standard – one for those in law enforcement and the judiciary and a different one for the rest of us.”

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