You can call us skeptical, but when Democrat activists “are eyeing a suite of democracy and elections upgrades” to “ensure representation of communities” and “offer more diverse candidate choices to advance the priorities of everyday Washingtonians”, it sounds less like upgrading democracy than degrading our elections to only allow Democrats to win. That’s the takeaway from a Sightline feature on all the whacky “voting reform” policies the Far Left is pushing to make sure only Democrats can get elected in Washington state.

Among the anti-democratic ideas coming from Seattle and King County legislators are “ranked choice voting, (and)moving to even-year elections” for local races because Democrats can’t count on their most ill-informed base voters to vote every year, or to not vote for candidates liberals don’t like. As Sightline notes, Democrats pushed their liberal allies in the judicial branch to tip the scales in their favor last summer, when the “Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling that specified that ranked choice voting is a remedy” if enough Democrats are not getting elected in a specific jurisdiction. You can read on for more far-Left solutions for our elections such as  “restoring voting rights for Washingtonians in the carceral system by only revoking them for crimes punishable by death (HB 2030), ensuring that Washington citizens can vote even when incarcerated” here… Sightline Institute.

Republican State Sen. Perry Dozier (16th LD) joins us for this week’s Newsmaker Interview. Sen. Dozier shares his priorities for the 2024 legislative session, including addressing the cost of living, public safety, and supporting parental rights in education. From his perspective working in the agricultural industry for over 40 years, Sen. Dozier also emphasizes the need to address significant challenges facing farmers through the “Cultivate Washington” agenda – and criticizes the ongoing failure to exempt farmers from the carbon tax. Read more.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) keeps trying to convince the public that a few dozen hard core political pep rally organizers were able to shut down I-5 for over five hours because their pro-Hamas terrorist party was such a “highly coordinated protest” that professional peace officers at the WSP couldn’t figure out how to move the partiers and their parked cars for over five hours. That’s the story that Axios Seattle bought from a WSP spokesperson, who could find no fault with the department’s lack of preparation or action, instead suggesting their lackluster response “was slowed by weather, a lack of advance intelligence and a commitment to de-escalating tensions.”

Anybody stuck in the terrorist-supporting traffic jam could reach the obvious conclusion that poor decision-making by bureaucrats paralyzed by the fear of offending base Democrat voters allowed the freeway pep rally to linger until rain sent the partiers home. But Governor Jay Inslee’s hand-picked leadership at the WSP can’t admit that anarchy is OK when it’s your people acting up, any more than Democrats in the legislature will allow a vote on a bill punishing their base voters for depriving others of their rights.

Read on to see how the WSP was happy to serve the political agenda of the pep rally organizers while claiming “it was ‘not an overly satisfying chain of events for anyone’ and that WSP could have perhaps moved faster,” here… Axios Seattle.

The hundreds of thousands of people across the state who signed Let’s Go Washington (LGW) initiatives can celebrate another success, with KIRO Newsradio reporting that “Initiative 2081 has been certified, according to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office.” It is the third of six LGW initiatives to be certified, this one giving parents the right to “to review instructional materials and inspect student records” at public schools.

As LGW founder Brian Heywood pointed out, giving parents such basic rights is hardly a partisan issue, and “this initiative is nothing anyone would have believed was controversial even a few years ago.” You can read on to learn that “the signatures on the remaining three pending initiative petitions are being verified” and more certifications are likely coming here… KIRO Newsradio.

Shift has had plenty to write about over the years about the Seattle City Council’s deliberately antagonistic approach to the police who proudly serve the city. That’s why we’re pleased to highlight these remarks captured by KUOW, from the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, that he and other officers “remain extremely hopeful and optimistic that those bad vibes from before won’t resurrect on this current council.”

The “bad vibes” coming from the city’s politicians, as Mike Nolan noted, included “the Defund movement, (which) really hindered our ability to be an effective police force. And we’ve lost, since 2019, 700 officers.” Read on to see his perspective that “I’ve been a cop for 24 years, I don’t recall ever City Council members publicly declaring that we need more cops and that we should support the police” here… Shift, KUOW.

Liberals in Washington state are counting on President Joe Biden, public apathy, and friendly judges to continue advancing their agenda to rip out four Snake River dams. That’s why it was not good news to them to read in The Columbian that “Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., testified he will work to keep any language that would promote breaching the four lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington out of a key House water infrastructure bill.”

Fortunately for the millions in Washington who depend on the hydroelectric system to provide power, transportation, irrigation, and flood control, Rep. Newhouse is well positioned to fight Democrat “language that would allow not only the physical breaching of the dams, but what he called operational breaching of the four dams in Washington and Idaho.” Read on to see how he’ll fight liberal attempts to “spur exorbitant (electric) ratepayer increases and cause harm to the salmon population” through dam destruction… The Columbian.

Shift will leave with little comment this story on one of the Democrats’ latest pro-criminal bills, “House Bill 2030 (which) would effectively allow anyone incarcerated in a state prison to vote or sit on a jury. It only bans prisoners from voting who are convicted of a crime punishable by death.” We will say it seems a tad ironic that this new bill, from the one Democrat serving in the legislator who has also served in prison (so far), references “death penalty” language when the Democrats’ policy is to let all the murderers of women on Washington’s death row to keep living… Washington State Standard.

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].