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NEWS ADVISORY March 3, 2005 Statement from EFF President Bob Williams on the Election Reform Task Force Report OLYMPIA—Today, Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, released the following statement concerning the Election Reform Task Force Report: "The citizens who attended the election reform task force meetings will be as disappointed as I am that the final recommendations will do very little to restore integrity to our election system. "Important things like providing identification before being allowed to vote are addressed, but only to a limited extent. That applies only to the 30 percent or so of Washington voters who actually go to the polls on election day. "The Secretary of State continues to say he has an "opinion" by the Attorney General's office saying that re-registration of Washington voters is not allowed under the federal HAVA legislation. "We have asked the Secretary of State's office to provide us with that opinion in the past, but they were unable to produce a copy. We asked the Attorney General's office for a copy, but they couldn't find one either. Today, we have renewed our request to find this illusive memo. "In any event, we have spoken at length with the U.S. Department of Justice about the re-registration issue and officials there say there is nothing in the federal election law that prohibits re-registration for state elections." Additional Information Contact: Booker Stallworth | Communications Director | 360.956.3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
