My platform is divided into Election Integrity, Voting Rights, and Election Reform.

The following are concrete actions that I will do to reclaim our democracy by restoring the integrity of our elections.

Ban Unique Bar Codes

Unique bar codes on our ballots allow government officials to determine exactly how you voted. This is a gross violation of our voter privacy. We have successfully banned these bar codes in King County.

I will ban the unique bar codes statewide.

Top-Down Review of Voting Equipment

California's Top-Down review discovered that their voting equipment had serious problems. Every machine had reliability and security problems. Worse, the vendors had lied when they said they fixed those problems.

Like Ohio, Florida, and others, I will repeat California's Top-Down review here in Washington State.

I will decertify any voting equipment found to be illegal.

No High-Speed Mail Ballot Tabulators

Premiere Election Systems' (formerly Diebold) new mail ballot tabulators destroys the paper trail, which makes it impossible to do a manual recount. The new "electronic adjudication" feature, used to correct for voter intent, updates the central count database without a lawful paper trail.

I will only certify voting systems that can be audited.

No Counting Ballots Before Election Day

Counting ballots before election day creates the opportunity for "cheat peeks", which has happened in some jurisdictions. The current Republican Secretary of State makes a fictional distinction between "pre-scanning" and "tabulation", offering no protection against election fraud.

I will ban counting mail ballots before election day.

No Secret Software

We citizens are currently denied our fundamental right to know how our elections work. The vendors hide how the voting equipment works behind trade secret laws. This secrecy violates the principle of a public vote count.

I will place copies of all voting system hardware, software, documentation, and test data in state escrow.

I will permit individuals to inspect these voting systems.

Citizen Owned Voting Systems

The tools of our democracy are currently owned by corporations. We must stop outsourcing the basic machinery of our elections. Just like RedHat, IBM, and Google, vendors of voting systems will return to a business model which profits from open source solutions by providing training, services, and customizations.

I will champion the creation of open source software voting systems.

Require Meaningful Audits

We have no way to ensure that our mail ballot tabulators are working correctly. The current "Logic & Accuracy" testing before an election is barely a test. The incumbent Republican Secretary of State has opposed all legislation requiring audits our voting systems.

I will require counties to audit their voting equipment.

Audits must be completed before I will certify and publish any election results.

The following are concrete actions that I will do to promote voting rights.

Universal Registration

Our "opt-in" voter registration system ensures that we continue to argue. The right is most concerned about ineligible voters and voter fraud. The left is most concerned about disenfranchising voters. The whole system is expensive, complicated, and error prone.

An "opt-out" system of universal voter registration system resolves the impasse. It eliminates the risk of voter fraud. It ensures that all eligible voters can vote on election day. It's also simple and cheaper to administrate.

Every other Western democracy has an "opt-out" system; only the United States has an "opt-in" system.

I will champion universal voter registration for Washington State

Restore Ex-Felon's Right to Vote

We disenfranchise 1,000s of people every year. These are ex-felons who cannot afford to pay off their debt, navigate the Byzantine court system, or both. Washington State has the most punitive voting rights restrictions on ex-felons. It's a fundamentally unfair and dehumanizing system.

I will champion the "Oregon Model" of restoring voting rights once a person is released from prison.

These changes to how our elections are structured will increase voter participation.

Move Primary to September

Moving our primary to summer has greatly reduced voter participation. The norm nationwide is to have primaries either before or after summer. When the counties requested a few more weeks time for mail ballot processing, the incumbent inexplicibly choose August.

I will lobby to move the primary to September, after Labor Day.

Normalize "Hidden" Conservation District Elections

Very few voters are even aware of the crucial conservation district elections. The result is abmissmally low voter participation. Unlike water, fire, and school districts, conservation districts administrate their own elections.

I will lobby to provide state funding for conservation district elections.

(Last updated 9/26/08)