Ezra Klein in the New York Times wrote an article reviewing the work of political consultant and pollster David Shor, who said that the Democrats need to tone down their support for minority (black) rights if they want to win back white voters, whose motivations may or not be based on racism. Klein writes: All […]
Election integrity
Rep. Adam Smith explains why he accepts PAC money
At the June 8th Town Hall meeting of Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA 9th CD) in Crossroads, Bellevue, Rep Adam Smith gave progressive answers to almost every question he was asked: on immigration, on the environment, on low-yield nuclear weapons, on convening impeachment hearings for Trump (he mostly supports it), on taxation, on peace, etc. One […]
These WA Legislature bills call for a limited constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United
The Washington State Senate is considering Senate Joint Memorial 8002 (SJM 8002) — Asking Congress to call a limited convention, authorized under Article V of the United States Constitution, for the purpose of proposing a free and fair elections amendment to that Constitution. The companion state house bill is HJM 4004. You can read the […]
Go forward
This week we witnessed another 21st century virtual coup in America. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by well over 600,000 votes and by the time all the ballots are counted, it will be a margin in excess of 1.5 million nationwide. Hillary lost the electoral college vote, an archaic institution fashioned by the founders […]
I-1464 would put campaign cash in voters’ hands
State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Sumner, made it into the political news recently. The FBI has been looking into her campaign fundraising. Image courtesy of Integrity Washington What is strange is that Sen. Roach has said out loud what everyone walking the halls of the state Capitol knows: There is an intimate connection between campaign contributions, […]
Should we eliminate the secret ballot?
In April of this year, The Free Thought Project published an article Land of the Free? Harvard Study Ranks America Worst in the West for Fair Elections in which it says As if further proof could possibly be needed of the sorry state of the American electoral process, a new study just ranked the United […]
Caucus Integrity 2016
A caucus is an election style where participants come together in a meeting to first discuss, then vote. The process is more transparent than most U.S. elections because you can see who can vote, who did vote, observe the vote count, and (hopefully) observe the chain of custody. With caucuses, chain of custody has been […]
‘No choice’ state voting needs tweak
Was there an election last week? Well, yes there was, but most people seemed to be more interested in the Blue Angels than participating in our seasonal exercise in democracy. It’s pretty easy to vote at your own kitchen table, filing in the little ovals with your choices while sipping a cup of coffee, and […]
Systemic injustice threatens democracy
One hundred fifty one years ago today the pivotal battle of the Civil War was fought, as Union soldiers succeeded in holding off Confederate charges on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. If the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment had been overrun by southern troops, the Confederacy may very likely have prevailed in the Civil War, […]