BILL REQ. #:  S-0858.1 

Read first time 01/31/13.   Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO PATRICK R. DONAHOE, POSTMASTER GENERAL, UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Washington State has established an exclusively mail-in voting system, a system which has proved an effective and popular form of voting but which requires citizens to pay for that right by way of postage; and
     WHEREAS, Washington State has many rural communities, some of which can only be reached by water or air. It is therefore impractical to expect citizens in these communities to take a ballot to a drop box; and
     WHEREAS, Expending monetary resources in order to participate in the electoral process clearly calls into question the prohibition of excising a poll tax, as stated by the 24th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and as noted by the U.S. Supreme Court, which stated in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966), that "wealth, like race, creed, or color, is not germane to one's ability to participate intelligently in the electoral process"; and
     WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States ensures that the right of citizens to vote shall not be "denied or abridged"; and
     WHEREAS, Voting is a foundational right of a free and democratic people, and fair and free elections are at the heart of our democracy;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress and the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, in goodwill and the best interest of the citizens of the United States, establish a special accommodation for official election mail, including but not limited to ballots for primary and general elections, stating the concession of prepaid postage for Members of the Voting Electorate, similar to the "franking privilege," which has provided free postage to Members of Congress since our country's inception.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.