I-735 Validated, Thurston County Contributed Nearly 16,000 Signatures

I-735 Validated, Thurston County Contributed Nearly 16,000 Signatures

washington  

Above: The Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature. Initiative 735 clarifies that corporations are not people, money is not speech, and all political donations should be made public.

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“Woohoo! So happy! I am so pleased with what we in Thurston County were able to accomplish,” said Jennifer Sprague, in response to the news that the Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature.

Sprague, a local organizer for the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend) in Thurston County, received the news Tuesday afternoon.

Initiative 735 urges Washington State’s Congressional delegation and all members of Congress to propose a federal Constitutional amendment clarifying that Constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations. It also says that spending money is not free speech under the First Amendment.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, the invalidation rate, including duplicates and signatures from people not found on the voter rolls, was 18 percent, about average for Washington ballot measures in recent decades.

Next, the Legislature may enact the initiative into law, or may send it to the General Election ballot for a vote of the people. Since it is unlikely the initiative will be enacted into law, organizers are urging people to vote yes on I-735 this coming November.

Sprague and other I-735 supporters held a rally on Thursday afternoon, the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United v. FEC decision, at the Washington State Capitol Building.

“Voting yes will make Washington State the 17th state to urge Congress to introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision,” said Sprague.

WAmend organizers collected 333,040 signatures for I-735 and turned them in to the Washington State Secretary of State’s office on December 30 and 31, 2015.

Thurston County volunteers were responsible for gathering 15,920 signatures for the initiative. Sprague said that gathering almost 16,000 signatures was their goal, which is about 10 percent of the registered voters in the county.

Above: Several checkers strive to validate troublesome signatures for I-735 last week at the Washington Secretary of State's office in downtown Olympia.

The Secretary of State’s office started reviewing the I-735 ballots Wednesday evening and finished a few days earlier than expected. Anyone can observe the process during normal business hours.

Kay Ramsey, Secretary of State program coordinator, was busy checking signatures last week, along with about 15 paid, temporary staff who received training for their job from the Washington State Patrol. Staff cross checked signatures with the statewide voter registration database.

Asked what causes the most difficulties with petition signatures, Ramsey said that a lot of people aren’t actually registered to vote, bad handwriting, and very common names.

Checkers also have difficulties with very large and very small signatures, attempted scratch outs, lightly written signatures, those that only sign or only print their name, and other issues.

Little Hollywood observed the signature checking process last week and witnessed several illegible and light signatures that were not able to be confirmed by the checker.

Ramsey said that every effort is made to do a second round check to see if the proper signature can be found.

For more information about I-735 and the initiative process, go to: www.WAMEND.org. Previous articles about the initiative are at Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com. Use the search button to type in key words.

For more information about Thurston County’s I-735 efforts, contact Jennifer Sprague at I-735olympia@hotmail.com or Michael Savoca at Masavoca@fairpoint.net

National Move To Amend Speaker in Olympia

National Move To Amend Speaker in Olympia

U.S. Constitution  

I-735 Update: Volunteers Needed 

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

David Cobb, 2004 Green Party presidential nominee and spokesperson for Move To Amend, will be speaking on behalf of Initiative 735 on Wednesday, August 12, at 7:00 p.m. at Traditions Cafe, 300 5th Ave SW in downtown Olympia.

The event is sponsored by local organizers of the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend), who seek to make Washington the 17^th state to ask that Congress pass a 28^thAmendment to overrule  the US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission.

Issues to be discussed include ending corporate personhood and the corporate control of our government and the implications of the campaign to overturn the court decision.

“Getting enough signatures for I-735 on the ballot is not yet assured…we are close to where we want to be…but, still, just a little behind schedule,” said local WAmend campaign organizer Michael Savoca.

More than 100 active signature gatherers throughout the state have brought in 100,000 signatures to date. The campaign does not have any paid signature gatherers.

“Sadly, as hard as these volunteers have worked, they need to substantially increase their efforts in the remaining months for us to make it over the finish line in time. We need more volunteers, especially people who would be willing to take even just one or two petitions and leisurely let friends and family sign, over the next month or two,” said Savoca.

The campaign is required to submit 250,000 valid signatures by December 30th 2015.  To ensure 250,000 valid signatures are submitted, the group must gather over 300,000 signatures.

While that deadline seems far away, seasoned organizers know that, realistically, volunteers do not want to gather signatures in the rain and will be distracted by Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season. 

“We need help so that I-735 can succeed, and thus we can end corporate rule, and have “government of the people... by the people…. and for the people,” said Savoca.

For more information about the event and local I-735 campaign efforts, and to obtain initiative petitions, contact Michael Savoca at masavoca@fairpoint.net or (360) 951-6518.

For past stories about getting big money out of politics, see articles at Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com. An article on February 7, 2015 explains the difference between an initiative to the Legislature and an initiative to the people.