OLYMPIA, Wash., January 17, 2022 – Governor Jay Inslee’s new political speech bill, SB 5843, making it a gross misdemeanor for elected officials or candidates to “willfully lie” regarding the election process and results, underwent its first reading Thursday, January 13, at the Senate level.
Inslee first announced he would support this legislation at a virtual legislative preview hosted by the Associate Press, Thursday, January 6, the anniversary of the U.S. Capitol Breach, in which he referred to the ongoing “threats to democracy” as one of the biggest challenges in our community.
“It should not be legal in the state of Washington for elected officials or candidates for office to willfully lie about these election results in favor of democracy,” Inslee said.
During the preview, Inslee shared his personal experience when the governor’s residence was stormed by Trump supporters, some armed with assault rifles, causing him to be evacuated to a safe room.
“I feel deep in my heart what it meant when the temple of democracy was attacked,” Inslee said. “This is much more than a simple case of some violence. It is our democracy itself that was attacked and continues to be attacked.”
SB 5843 was read by request of Gov. Inslee’s office, and supported by Senators Frockt, Kuderer, Hunt, Keiser, Lovelett, Nguyen, Nobles, Salomon, and C. Wilson.
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