Illegal initiative argument refuted

While perusing the liberal blogs the other day for amusement, I came across several disturbing posts. Not that their content was of any great controversy or that the ideas were x-rated, but because I have become more and more amazed at the lack of rational thought displayed in most liberal commentary.

Just this week, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation held a press conference on the job performance of Secretary of State Sam Reed, election reform and the prospect of a new initiative to be run by EFF’s c(4) spin-off, Grassroots Washington.

It is true; Grassroots Washington will likely run an initiative this year that would demand a clean voter roll. While the language of the initiative is still being worked out, the initiative would require all voters to update their registrations in order to vote a regular ballot in the next general election. Anyone who does not update their registration will still be able to cast a provisional ballot that will not be counted until the individual’s voter registration is updated.

The statewide voter database introduced by Reed last month can only maintain a clean voter roll, it cannot create one. With all of the erroneous registrations in the current database, there is little hope that it will single-handedly restore voter trust.

Thus, the best way to have a clean voter roll is to suspend all active registrations and allow legal, valid voters to update their registration to prevent further disenfranchisement by Reed, the Democrats and those who cast illegal ballots.

One blog in particular (found here) has made an especially crude argument. This blogger insists that the initiative to be filed by EFF/GW is illegal…and they know it. Gasp! The conspiracy! The deception! The mayhem! Please.

The blogger founds this argument based on the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. This act essentially states that no voter may be purged from the system once he or she is in it. The exceptions would be in the case of death or by the registrant himself.

Therefore, this blogger concludes, EFF/GW is knowingly drafting an illegal initiative.

This argument is mortally flawed. If the EFF/GW initiative would actually say that all voters will be removed and anyone who wishes to vote is forced to reregister then yes, it would be illegal. But the blogger is negligent in his argument. He did not bother to closely examine what EFF/GW is proposing.

They do not say that all voters will be purged from the voter database. Current registrations will only be suspended and they can still vote. So no law will be violated and no statute will be changed.

This initiative will be an important one to pass in November. It is obvious that our elected leaders will not pursue meaningful election reform. This initiative will restore trust in Washington’s electoral system because it will prevent double voters, duplicate registrations, deceased voters and non citizen voters.

This will be the first of many steps to real election reform.

One last thing, the blogger states:
“I could spend pages refuting the EFF’s arguments, but to do so in the context of an initiative that clearly violates federal law is not only a waste of time, it’s exactly what the EFF wants. The entire purpose of this initiative is to rile up the paranoid Republican base enough to turn them out on election day, and I for one, am not interested in giving the EFF the bogus debate they want.”

This is laughable. Not only is it sophomoric to claim you have so many arguments against something but you won’t waste the time listing them, it is weak. If you are not going to actually articulate your argument, then don’t make the claim. It’s generic, cliché and nobody buys it. The rest of us learned that in grade school.

Secondly, this blogger suggest that EFF needs this initiative to pass so that the Republicans can win. Ha! So is he admitting that the Democrats need illegal votes to keep winning in Washington? Looks like it.