Sat, Feb 22, 2025

To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state
(cc’d to the media, house & senate members, and Governor, and other candidates for office)

From: Tim Eyman
Fighting for taxpayers for 28 years

The Democrats’ anti-initiative bill will destroy the citizen initiative process for everyone. 

Help me stop them: 

1) Sign in “CON” – it’ll only take 30 seconds.

Click here and register your opposition.

2) Join me and testify against it (in person or remotely):

Click here to sign up to testify.

I’ll be at the Cherberg Building in Olympia for Monday’s 1:30pm hearing – I urge you join me (in person or by Zoom).

3) Send 2 emails: one to the Senate and one to the House.

To SENATORS: Copy and paste this into the “To:” line:

emily.alvarado@leg.wa.gov; jessica.bateman@leg.wa.gov; matt.boehnke@leg.wa.gov; john.braun@leg.wa.gov; mike.chapman@leg.wa.gov; annette.cleveland@leg.wa.gov; leonard.christian@leg.wa.gov; steve.conway@leg.wa.gov; adrian.cortes@leg.wa.gov; manka.dhingra@leg.wa.gov; perry.dozier@leg.wa.gov; phil.fortunato@leg.wa.gov; noel.frame@leg.wa.gov; chris.gildon@leg.wa.gov; keith.goehner@leg.wa.gov; drew.hansen@leg.wa.gov; bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov; paul.harris@leg.wa.gov; jeff.holy@leg.wa.gov; claudia.kauffman@leg.wa.gov; curtis.king@leg.wa.gov; deborah.krishnadasan@leg.wa.gov; marko.liias@leg.wa.gov; liz.lovelett@leg.wa.gov; john.lovick@leg.wa.gov; drew.macewen@leg.wa.gov; jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov; ron.muzzall@leg.wa.gov; twina.nobles@leg.wa.gov; tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov; jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov; bill.ramos@leg.wa.gov; marcus.riccelli@leg.wa.gov; june.robinson@leg.wa.gov; rebecca.saldana@leg.wa.gov; jesse.salomon@leg.wa.gov; mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov; sharon.shewmake@leg.wa.gov; shelly.short@leg.wa.gov; vandana.slatter@leg.wa.gov; derek.stanford@leg.wa.gov; nikki.torres@leg.wa.gov; yasmin.trudeau@leg.wa.gov; javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov; keith.wagoner@leg.wa.gov; judy.warnick@leg.wa.gov; lisa.wellman@leg.wa.gov; claire.wilson@leg.wa.gov; jeff.wilson@leg.wa.gov; ltgov@ltgov.wa.gov; Tim@TimDefense.com

Copy & paste this into the Subject line:

STOP SB 5382 – both Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (Democrat) and former Secretary of State Sam Reed (Republican) are VISCERALLY OPPOSED, calling the bill COSTLY and UNNECESSARY.

Copy & paste this (or something like this) into the body of the email (tell ’em how you feel):

Democrat Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: “Secretary Hobbs is against SB 5382. The Secretary’s position is that anything that adds barriers or impediments to that process is not helpful to Washingtonians. Under the State Constitution, any legal voter in the State can propose an initiative be added by submitting the required number of valid signatures. What was considered a valid signature, and the Secretary’s role in checking those signatures, was challenged last year by a court case ‘Defend Washington v. Hobbs.”‘ In the case, the court ruled that “matching signatures on initiative petitions to those in voter rolls, without verifying signers’ addresses, complied with statutory procedure, and verification of signers’ addresses was not constitutionally required. Adding a voter’s residential address to the process of validating voters’ eligibility to sign an initiative petition is unnecessary and won’t help voters in any demonstrative way. Secretary Hobbs is against SB 5382.”

Now listen to former Secretary of State Sam Reed slam it:

To: Senator Javier Valdez, State Government and Elections Committee Chair
To: Senator Jeff Wilson, Ranking Member 
CC: Committee members Senators Deb Krishnadasan, Marcus Riccelli, Bob Hasegawa, Shelly Short, Phil Fortunato, & Jim McCune

From: Sam Reed, Secretary of State (2001 – 2013), Thurston County Auditor (1978 – 2001)

Feb. 11, 2025

I have some serious concerns regarding Senate Bill 5382.

Since 1912, the citizens of the state of Washington have cared deeply about their initiative and referendum rights under our constitution.   I urge you not suppress voter involvement in this honored tradition.

My first concern is Section 6, which requires the Secretary of State to reject a voter’s signature even if it matches the voter’s signature on file. A voter may sign a petition in March, but the Secretary of State won’t verify it until January, 11 months later. If that voter moves in the interim, under Section 6, that voter’s signature will not count. That should not happen. As Thurston County Auditor, I learned that a large proportion of the voters move every year.  This is particularly true with renters.

Another concern: when voters are asked to put their address on a petition, many put their PO Box. Under Section 6, doing so would result in rejection even though the voter’s signature matches the signature on file.

It will be very expensive to the Secretary of State’s office. With Section 6 in effect, the invalid rate will dramatically increase. That will result in many ballot measure showing insufficient signatures under the statistical sampling process. When that happens, the Secretary of State is required by law to verify every signature on every sheet (currently, that’s over 400,000 voter verifications). During my tenure, we had to do a full check a couple of times — back then, even though much fewer voter verifications were required, it took months, caused huge disruption, and was very costly to the office.

During my tenure and during the tenure of other Secretaries of State, both Republicans and Democrats, it has always been a solemn and sacred responsibility to count a voter’s signature if it matches but reject it if it doesn’t. If it’s a close call, we examine and reexamine the signature to ensure only matching signatures count. Section 6 does not enhance the existing process — it will only result in willing, active, engaged voters having their voices silenced because of a non-matching address. This should not be allowed.

Section 6’s requirement is unnecessary, would be very costly to the Secretary of State’s office, and would disenfranchise valid voters whose signature matches who support a vote on a ballot measure (whether that ballot measure be progressive, conservative, or non-partisan).

I strongly urge you remove section 6 for the reasons provided in this letter.

As for requiring circulators to sign the back of the petition (Section 2-5), I have no problem with that provided the voters who signed the front of the petition not have their signatures rejected. A legitimate voter should not be penalized based on the actions (or inactions) of the circulator. A simple amendment should be included in the bill that clarifies that valid voter signatures will not be rejected due to the person who asked them to sign.

Finally, when it comes to the requirements in Sections 2-5, I would suggest that unpaid volunteer circulators be exempt so as to encourage, and not deter, volunteers from exercising their right under the First Amendment to petition their government. 

Thank you all for considering my sincere and heartfelt worry about these aspects of Senate Bill 5382.

Respectfully,

Sam Reed
reed.sam.sumner@gmail.com  

Link to his letter is here.

I agree with Secretaries Hobbs & Reed. I urge every legislator to fight back against this attack on the citizens’ right to initiative by REJECTING SENATE BILL 5382.

— END —

Do same for the House — copy & paste into the “To” line: 

peter.abbarno@leg.wa.gov; hunter.abell@leg.wa.gov; andrew.barkis@leg.wa.gov; stephanie.barnard@leg.wa.gov; april.berg@leg.wa.gov; steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov; adam.bernbaum@leg.wa.gov; liz.berry@leg.wa.gov; dan.bronoske@leg.wa.gov; brian.burnett@leg.wa.gov; michelle.caldier@leg.wa.gov; lisa.callan@leg.wa.gov; rob.chase@leg.wa.gov; april.connors@leg.wa.gov; chris.corry@leg.wa.gov; julio.cortes@leg.wa.gov; travis.couture@leg.wa.gov; lauren.davis@leg.wa.gov; tom.dent@leg.wa.gov; beth.doglio@leg.wa.gov; brandy.donaghy@leg.wa.gov; davina.duerr@leg.wa.gov; jeremie.dufault@leg.wa.gov; mary.dye@leg.wa.gov; andrew.engell@leg.wa.gov; debra.entenman@leg.wa.gov; carolyn.eslick@leg.wa.gov; darya.farivar@leg.wa.gov; jake.fey@leg.wa.gov; joe.fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov; mary.fosse@leg.wa.gov; roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov; jenny.graham@leg.wa.gov; mia.gregerson@leg.wa.gov; dan.griffey@leg.wa.gov; david.hackney@leg.wa.gov; natasha.hill@leg.wa.gov; victoria.hunt@leg.wa.gov; cyndy.jacobsen@leg.wa.gov; laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov; michael.keaton@leg.wa.gov; mark.klicker@leg.wa.gov; shelley.kloba@leg.wa.gov; mari.leavitt@leg.wa.gov; debra.lekanoff@leg.wa.gov; john.ley@leg.wa.gov; sam.low@leg.wa.gov; nicole.macri@leg.wa.gov; deb.manjarrez@leg.wa.gov; matt.marshall@leg.wa.gov; stephanie.mcclintock@leg.wa.gov; joel.mcentire@leg.wa.gov; sharlett.mena@leg.wa.gov; gloria.mendoza@leg.wa.gov; melanie.morgan@leg.wa.gov; greg.nance@leg.wa.gov; edwin.obras@leg.wa.gov; ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov; timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov; lillian.ortiz-self@leg.wa.gov; lisa.parshley@leg.wa.gov; dave.paul@leg.wa.gov; joshua.penner@leg.wa.gov; strom.peterson@leg.wa.gov; gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov; alex.ramel@leg.wa.gov; julia.reed@leg.wa.gov; kristine.reeves@leg.wa.gov; adison.richards@leg.wa.gov; skyler.rude@leg.wa.gov; alicia.rule@leg.wa.gov; cindy.ryu@leg.wa.gov; osman.salahuddin@leg.wa.gov; sharontomiko.santos@leg.wa.gov; joe.schmick@leg.wa.gov; suzanne.schmidt@leg.wa.gov; shaun.scott@leg.wa.gov; tana.senn@leg.wa.gov; clyde.shavers@leg.wa.gov; tarra.simmons@leg.wa.gov; larry.springer@leg.wa.gov; chris.stearns@leg.wa.gov; mike.steele@leg.wa.gov; drew.stokesbary@leg.wa.gov; monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov; chipalo.street@leg.wa.gov; david.stuebe@leg.wa.gov; jamila.taylor@leg.wa.gov; my-linh.thai@leg.wa.gov; steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov; brianna.thomas@leg.wa.gov; joe.timmons@leg.wa.gov; mike.volz@leg.wa.gov; amy.walen@leg.wa.gov; jim.walsh@leg.wa.gov; kevin.waters@leg.wa.gov; sharon.wylie@leg.wa.gov; alex.ybarra@leg.wa.gov; janice.zahn@leg.wa.gov; Tim@TimDefense.com

Thank you for helping me fight this critical battle to save the initiative process from its’ destruction from Senate Bill 5382.

For 28 years, I’ve been fighting for the people of our state and our nation. 

Here’s THE ONLY REASON Bob Ferguson is trying so hard to impose a lifetime ban on all my future political activity:

Please help me appeal these ridiculously unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. 

This craziness is a legal and political precedent that cannot stand.

Mail your check to: 
Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund
17404 Meridian Ave E #F PMB 176
Puyallup, WA, 98375

Or donate online:
By GiveSendGo (credit/debit card)
By Paypal (donate using PayPal or using a credit/debit card)

The only reason I’m still here and I’m still fighting is because of the prayers, love, and support of wonderful friends like you who’ve seen this gross injustice and are willing to help.

I love you all.

Onward!

Tim 

You can call or text me anytime: 509-991-5295

You can email me anytime: Tim@TimDefense.com

For more details, go to: TimDefense.com