In the flurry of activity that always ensues when the Washington State Legislature is in session, one bill has flown largely under the radar, yet its implications are enormous.
Backed by Gov. Jay Inslee, Senate Bill 5483 would make it a gross misdemeanor to make false statements about the results of an election.
This bill didn’t originate in a vacuum. The text opens with a statement that states whose electoral processes follow Washington’s model, including mail voting and same-day registration, are secure in their elections and claims to the contrary are false. It goes on to describe (in somewhat subjective terms) the events of Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, and lays the blame for those squarely on statements by then-President Donald Trump. It adds that a similar, though smaller-scale, event took place in Olympia at the state capitol and the governor’s residence.
And while the bill’s authors admit that there may be some minor hiccups regarding that pesky First Amendment, they seem to believe that it will pass Constitutional muster, because it just has to. After all, as the bill openly states, no less than democracy itself is at stake.
Is it? First of all, our country has functioned more or less continuously since the late 18th century. Surely in all that time, people have spoken negative things, perhaps even untruths, about their electoral opponents at least once or twice. Yet here we are, still democratizing away.
Second, the purpose of the First Amendment is not to...
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