(Other Voices is part of a series of posts by guest bloggers. Today’s post is written by Kristina Logsdon, Ballot Initiative Project Director of Win/Win Network.)
Fixing our broken ballot measure system
It’s official. Truth and equality were the winners on Election Day. Equality was preserved, not only for the LGBT community in retaining the domestic partnership law passed earlier this year, but also in preserving funding for public services such as education that allow all families to receive a quality education. Despite these obvious wins, 58% of the population voting “No” on Initiative 1033 and 53% approving Referendum 71, instigators of the ballot measures are claiming success. And in a sense, they’re right. This year’s elections highlight the fractured nature of our ballot initiative system and the need for reform.
Deception and bending of the rules
Protect Marriage Washington’s attempts to overturn the domestic partnership law have been rife was controversy. In addition to the deceptive tactics used to persuade petition signers, Protect Marriage Washington played fast and loose with the rules on who can sign a petition. Hundreds of petition signers were not registered to vote at the time they signed. The Secretary of State accepted signatures anyway arguing that as long as signers are listed in the voter-registration file by the time their signatures are checked, the actual date of registration doesn’t matter.
In addition, Protect Marriage Washington sued to block release of petition signers’ names and addresses – information that had been public before – arguing disclosure would put the signers at risk of harassment and impinge on their right to free speech.
Protect Marriage Washington campaign manager boasted:
Regardless of how the vote goes “it’s important what’s been accomplished
here,” [Larry] Stickney said, talking about the case the U.S. Supreme Court may take
up on whether to release the signatures of R-71 petition signers.
The First Amendment was an argument again used by opponents of domestic partnerships when Washington Family Political Action Committee sued to shield the contact information of campaign donors. U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton refused a request for emergency suspension of the laws, but a court case will be heard in the coming weeks. The impacts of these lawsuits could change campaign finance laws across the country.
Big business of ballot measures
The initiative process began as a reflection of the will of the people, but in the past decade gathering signatures has evolved into a moneymaking venture and not just for Tim Eyman. The group Citizen Solution was paid $510K to gather signatures to qualify Initiative 1033 for the ballot – not exactly the locally driven effort Eyman makes his initiatives out to be. In WA State, there is no law clarifying who can be hired as a signature gatherer. Anyone can be hired to collect personal information from voters including their signatures, information that could be used for identity theft in the wrong hands. In addition, because signature gatherers are not required to sign the affidavit on the back of petitions, there is no mechanism to track fraud. It is exactly these oversights that led the Ballot Initiative Strategy to grant our state a failing grade of “F” for integrity.
Other states have faced similar challenges and they have implemented commonsense solutions to protect their initiative process. Washington should do the same, starting with three simple reforms that would restore faith in our system:
· Require petition gathering firms, subcontractors, and individual paid petition gatherers to register with the state
· Prohibit paid signature gathering firms from hiring convicted sex offenders or those recently convicted of recent fraud, identification theft, or forgery
· Require signature gathers to sign affidavits on the back of the petitions attesting that all signatures were collected in accordance with state laws
This year’s events prove the time for reform is now. State legislators have an opportunity and a responsibility to take up bringing integrity to our system so that all residents of Washington can know it reflects them fairly.
by Kristina Logsdon, Ballot Initiative Project Director of Win/Win Network.
