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Additional election reform
still needed but limiting citizen action is bad for voters, says
Anderson
Creating a law restricting
the payment of signature gatherers doesn’t pass the straight-face test,
says one Republican,
Rep. Glenn Anderson, who today questioned
why the Legislature would consider House Bill 1087. The bill would limit
options for paying signature gatherers for initiative petitions and
referendums to the voters.
“There is no evidence that paying signature gatherers per signature
‘increases the possibility of fraud,’ as House Bill 1087 suggests,” said
Anderson. “We have a good, working system in place. By limiting access
to the ballot, House Bill 1087 would reduce the power of voters to
direct or correct their government through the powers reserved to them
in the constitution.”
State law already provides for the Secretary of State to conduct random
or full checks of signatures on any petition submitted as a ballot
measure. “I, for one, trust the voters and the decisions they make.
Having legislators trying to suppress public participation in their
government is incredibly arrogant. I support the public’s participation
in the process and the attention it generates; more voters are informed
and energized on the issues they’ll vote on,” said Anderson.
Both proponents and opponents of the measure are invited to participate
in the process of checking the ballot signatures and verifying their
authenticity.
Anderson added that he sponsored two additional election reform bills
this year that will give voters more information on who supports
different ballot measures and create a more secure voting process:
House Bill 1468 requires that voters prove citizenship and provide photo
identification to vote. Anderson said he introduced this legislation
because he believes that voting is our ultimate civil right and
identifying one’s self to exercise that right is essential to protecting
our democracy.
House Bill 1731 requires lobbyists to complete online reports to the
Public Disclosure Commission which will give voters immediate access to
information on who is working for which organization and how much they
are spending to promote or defeat a ballot measure. It’s important, said
Anderson, that people know who is contributing to whom and how much.
It’s a “sunshine” element to help make sure elections are clean.
“We need to address voter fraud and education, but the bottom line is
that voters already understand there are two elements to every ballot
measure – pro and con. Being able to access information on the lobbyists
working the issues is vital to how people make decisions,” said
Anderson. “And, asking folks to prove they are a legal resident and are
who they say they when voting at the polls is just common sense. We need
to address these issues before we start restricting the people’s right
to initiative or referendum.”
Anderson concluded that he’s concerned that more and more individual
rights are being confiscated by the Legislature, eroding trust in our
government that is set up to work “for the people and by the people.”
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