King County Charter Amendment No. 7 would change the way voters can put proposed charter amendments on the ballots.
The number of signatures on a petition for a charter amendment would be more than for an ordinary initiative, but passing a charter amendment should be harder than passing an ordinary initiative.
Charter Amendment No. 7: Not an “attack on initiatives”
Some have called Charter Amendment No. 7 an “attack on initiatives” because it sets a high standard to use initiative petitions to put charter amendments on the ballot.
While it sets a reasonably high standard to petition for charter amendments, it keeps the initiative process the same as it is now.
It also makes no change in the way this and five other charter amendments got on the ballot — by a regular charter review process. The Charter Review Commission held hearings around the county and then recommended possible amendments to the County Council, which voted to send six to the ballot for voter approval.
It does eliminate the cumbersome process of amendment by initiative petition, by which citizens petition to put an initiative on the ballot to put a proposed amendment on a future ballot.
It simply allows citizens to petition for a charter amendment with a number of signatures twice that required for a regular initiative.
If Amendment No. 7 passes, we will have three ways to put charter amendments on the ballot: recommendations by the Charter Review Commission, proposals by the County Council or petitions from citizens.
Democrats’ lawsuit was hypocritical
Washington’s Democratic Party was hypocritical when it brought its unsuccessful suit to force gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi to change his ballot designation from “G.O.P.” to “Republican,” claiming that the G.O.P. designation is confusing to voters.
This is a party that said it was fighting to protect its name when it challenged the blanket primary and later the top-two primary,
If the Democrats have the right to control their name, shouldn’t Rossi have the right to use his chosen identification?
In the suit to stop the top-two system, the Democrats, along with the Republicans and Libertarians, claimed that the top-two system would confuse voters.
The Democrats lost last week’s suit to the secretary of state, not Rossi or the state Republican Party. The Republican Party probably sides with the Democrats. When the election is over, the two parties will join in suing the state to stop the top-two system with an argument that the system confuses voters.
Deadline for voter registration
The deadline to register or change addresses for the Nov. 4 election is Saturday, Oct. 4. Those registrations may be done either in person, by mail or online. Forms for mail registration are available at libraries, schools and fire stations.
New Washington voters may register through Monday, Oct. 20, but they must do it in person.
Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor. Send comments to entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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