This Washington
Protecting Ballot Freedom, Preventing Ballot Fraud
Editor's note: This guest op/ed is by state Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34), whose initiative reform bill is being heard in the Senate Committee on Government Operations and Tribal Relations and Elections this morning. The bill is opposed by initiative kingpin Tim Eyman and Sens. Pam Roach (R-31) and Don Benton (R-17), who introduced 17 amendments to the bill this morning in an effort to thwart the legislation.
Ballot initiatives---which give citizens the power to make laws directly---are a welcome check and balance in a democratic system. But the ballot measure system itself also needs to be checked and balanced to ensure that it’s functioning the way our founders intended.
When Washington State adopted the initiative system in 1912, none of us knew what changes were ahead or how the system might be abused in the future. Despite our best efforts, there are some bad actors who have taken advantage of the public ballot initiative process for their own personal gain. This abuse has been rising and spreading over the last few years, as more and more out-of-state paid signature gathering corporations break or bend different states’ laws, profiting by passing ballot measures that they will never have to live under.
In 2008, Oregon’s Supreme Court convicted anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore of racketeering and forging signatures to qualify two initiatives to the ballot. In California, Marc Jacoby, owner of the signature-gathering firm Young Political Majors, pleaded guilty to voter registration fraud after he falsely claimed to be a state resident in violation of California law. In Nevada, a circulator hired by Arno Political Consultants signed an affidavit admitting that he and 100 others attended a “fraud party” and were taught how to copy signatures onto petitions.
As more evidence of ballot measure fraud and forgery comes to light nationally, a number of states are recognizing the need to update their laws to prevent this type of abuse. In 2009, more than a dozen states made significant improvements to their ballot measure integrity laws.
Washington’s laws, however, remain far behind. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a national nonpartisan organization, recently released a report card on the integrity of state’s ballot measure systems. Washington received a failing grade in each of the five categories: Standards, transparency, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
The good news is that Washington State has an opportunity to move toward a much improved ballot measure system by considering my bill, SB 5297, and its companion, HB 1668.
Our proposed legislation promotes accountability by requiring that signature gatherers fill out a declaration printed on the back of petitions certifying that they followed state law in collecting signatures. This simple improvement allows the state to identify perpetrators of fraud, forgery or ID theft and protect your signature from such abuse. Nineteen of the 24 initiatives states already have a similar requirement.
Washington should also follow the lead of three other states by requiring paid signature gathering firms to register with the state. Registration is a simple step that protects the rights of the public, requiring that the paid signature gathering firms ensure their signature gatherers don't have a history of fraud, forgery, or ID theft .
Washington has an opportunity this year to strengthen and protect the freedom to place initiatives on the ballot. These simple, common sense improvements serve us all by protecting the public from fraud, forgery and ID theft, and protecting the rights of the people to make laws directly in a fair, transparent, and accountable way.
Sharon Nelson is the State Senator from the 34th Legislative District.
Ballot initiatives---which give citizens the power to make laws directly---are a welcome check and balance in a democratic system. But the ballot measure system itself also needs to be checked and balanced to ensure that it’s functioning the way our founders intended.
When Washington State adopted the initiative system in 1912, none of us knew what changes were ahead or how the system might be abused in the future. Despite our best efforts, there are some bad actors who have taken advantage of the public ballot initiative process for their own personal gain. This abuse has been rising and spreading over the last few years, as more and more out-of-state paid signature gathering corporations break or bend different states’ laws, profiting by passing ballot measures that they will never have to live under.
In 2008, Oregon’s Supreme Court convicted anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore of racketeering and forging signatures to qualify two initiatives to the ballot. In California, Marc Jacoby, owner of the signature-gathering firm Young Political Majors, pleaded guilty to voter registration fraud after he falsely claimed to be a state resident in violation of California law. In Nevada, a circulator hired by Arno Political Consultants signed an affidavit admitting that he and 100 others attended a “fraud party” and were taught how to copy signatures onto petitions.
As more evidence of ballot measure fraud and forgery comes to light nationally, a number of states are recognizing the need to update their laws to prevent this type of abuse. In 2009, more than a dozen states made significant improvements to their ballot measure integrity laws.
Washington’s laws, however, remain far behind. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a national nonpartisan organization, recently released a report card on the integrity of state’s ballot measure systems. Washington received a failing grade in each of the five categories: Standards, transparency, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
The good news is that Washington State has an opportunity to move toward a much improved ballot measure system by considering my bill, SB 5297, and its companion, HB 1668.
Our proposed legislation promotes accountability by requiring that signature gatherers fill out a declaration printed on the back of petitions certifying that they followed state law in collecting signatures. This simple improvement allows the state to identify perpetrators of fraud, forgery or ID theft and protect your signature from such abuse. Nineteen of the 24 initiatives states already have a similar requirement.
Washington should also follow the lead of three other states by requiring paid signature gathering firms to register with the state. Registration is a simple step that protects the rights of the public, requiring that the paid signature gathering firms ensure their signature gatherers don't have a history of fraud, forgery, or ID theft .
Washington has an opportunity this year to strengthen and protect the freedom to place initiatives on the ballot. These simple, common sense improvements serve us all by protecting the public from fraud, forgery and ID theft, and protecting the rights of the people to make laws directly in a fair, transparent, and accountable way.
Sharon Nelson is the State Senator from the 34th Legislative District.
