A Petition

For Washington State Election Reform

An Appeal to Our Legislators
And
The Election Reform Task Force

As Americans our vote is the most precious thing we have. It is the currency with which we buy influence, and it is the only tool we have to direct our government.

People not eligible to vote potentially nullify the votes of legal voters. This is serious, but our government is not taking it seriously at all.

We the people demand meaningful election reforms that protect the integrity of the system as well as the sanctity of our vote. We want every eligible voter to have the opportunity to vote, but we also want every vote cast to be a legal vote, and we expect the accounting of our elections to be accurate.

We the people of the state of Washington submit this proposal and this petition to you hoping you will implement these reforms.

Voter Education Reform:
o Promote voter responsibility by educating voters on voting procedure through school programs, and materials distributed at the time of voter registration.
o Emphasize voter responsibility by teaching voters that it is their responsibility to follow voting procedures correctly if they want their vote counted.
Registration Reform:
o Require all voters to re-register, and populate the new state-wide database with verified legal voters.
o Require proof of ID by birth certificates or citizenship papers, rather than other documents which are easier to forge such as driver's licenses, that do not prove citizenship.
o Assign a PIN Number to each voter, to be used like the PIN # for a bank debit card, to verify the identity of the voter at the poll or to verify the identity of the absentee voter.
o Mail a verification letter to the voter at the address of residency. The voter must return this letter, providing his signature and PIN # for the registration to be validated.
o Require voting registration instructions to be printed in English, since reading English is a citizenship requirement and non-citizens are ineligible to vote.
Ballot Design and Accounting Reform:
o Provide a "None of the above" option in every race to eliminate under votes, and help clarify voter intent.
o Provisional ballots must be distinguishable from other ballots and must also be made in such a way as they cannot be fed into the machine at the poll.
o Account for Ballots from the time they are printed through certification of the election. Treat ballots as if they are dollars.
Ballot Casting Reform:
o Prevent Double Voting by immediately recording when a person votes and locking them out from additional voting.
Ballot Collection Reform:
o Train and test poll workers adequately to ensure they follow correct procedures.
o Establish a Chain of Custody for Ballots. If the chain is broken, the ballots are immediately placed in "provisional ballot" status for manual checking.
o Outlaw ballot enhancement by election workers guessing about voter intent.
o Timely absentee ballot collection through postmarking required on Election Day and receipt required within five days of Election Day.
o Timely processing of overseas military votes by providing online voting or remote precincts.
Enforcement Reform:
o Require statewide uniform laws and procedures.
o Require officials to enforce existing laws.
o Prosecute illegal voters.
o Restore voter confidence by making election information publicly available online, to include the list of registered voters, voting histories, ballot accounting and election return information, including write-in, over and under votes.