In the entire history of Washington, state and local governments have imposed tens of thousands of laws, rules and regulations. Since 1914, the initiative process, guaranteed by our state’s Constitution, has provided a very limited, yet crucial, check and balance on an otherwise unrestrained legislative power.
The checks and balances of the initiative process are working exactly as intended and as they’ve worked for over 90 years – no initiative gets on the ballot unless a large number of voters are willing to sign petitions. Existing laws against forgery and fraud have worked well and procedures by initiative campaigns and the office of the Secretary of State ensure that only valid signatures count. And obviously, no initiative becomes law unless the voters approve it at a high turn-out general election.
In our 90-year history of the initiative process, fewer than 130 initiatives to the people have qualified for the ballot, and less than half of them, 64, have become law. Tens of thousands of laws by lawmakers, 64 by the people. 99.9 percent of laws imposed by representative democracy, a tiny percentage by the voters. This is clearly not excessive.
Yet, unfortunately, this year, it’s a top legislative priority to end the initiative process in Washington.
Democrats have supermajorities in the House and Senate and they have the governorship. They have the power to do anything they want. They can take away the right to initiative and there’s really nothing the citizens can do to stop them. They can end the process of signature gathering and there’s really nothing the citizens can do to prevent it. They can pass laws that put citizens in jail for exercising their political free speech rights, and all the citizens can do is watch them do it. But just because they can do it, doesn’t mean they should. With great power comes great responsibility. Do they really want to consolidate their own legislative power so blatantly? Do they really want to have their fellow citizens see them carve an exception into the First Amendment when it comes to citizen participation?
Openly repealing the initiative process, or de facto eliminating it by imposing burdensome rules, will only increase the public’s distrust of Olympia.
One of the most egregious violations of the First Amendment is proposed House Bill 1087, sponsored by Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) and Sen. Adam Kline (D-Seattle), which would put citizens in jail for 90 days and find them guilty of a misdemeanor crime for compensating another person on a per-signature basis. This is like making driving a crime because some people drive drunk. People shouldn’t be thrown in jail for driving; they shouldn’t be thrown in jail for being compensated for exercising their First Amendment rights. In 1993, the Legislature passed an anti-initiative law just like HB 1087 and the court found it “violated citizens fundamental freedom of political speech protected by the First Amendment.” Why should the 2007 Legislature pass a law the court has already rejected?
Oregon has a law like HB 1087 and since it was enacted in 2002, rates of invalid signatures have gotten worse, not better. In fact, Oregon’s invalid rates are now nearly double what they are in Washington. Why would we want to copy Oregon’s law that has resulted in more invalid signatures? The secretary of state thoroughly checks signatures on petitions. Since 1999, more than 8 million signatures have been submitted and the ones found to be invalid are not because of fraud, but because signatures aren’t legible. The secretary of state makes sure only valid signatures count and only initiatives with enough valid signatures qualify for the ballot.
The initiative process has produced a variety of policies that cannot be categorized. Voters have approved certain progressive initiatives, certain conservative initiatives and certain non-partisan initiatives. The reverse is also true. Voters have rejected liberal, conservative and non-partisan initiatives. The voters of Washington are very careful and discerning. They approve some, they reject others.
Some legislators feel it necessary to “save the voters from themselves” by undermining and destroying the initiative process. This is condescending and elitist. The checks and balances are working as they always have. Olympia should not take away the First Amendment rights of the citizens to participate in the political process. Olympia should not interfere with the rights of the people to petition their government for change. Olympia should not criminalize free speech. Respect the voters by respecting the Constitution and leave our initiative process alone.
Tim Eyman is co-sponsor of the Taxpayer Protection Initiative of 2007 and heads up Voters Want More Choices, a grassroots taxpayer-protection organization (425-493-8707, www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com).
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