Voters pamphlet violates free speech, judge decides

Voters pamphlet violates free speech, judge decides

Ruling will allow candidates to criticize opponents in November's election guide

Thursday, September 20, 2001

By NEIL MODIE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

If an elected official has the right to tell the voters he is doing a great job, his election opponent has the right to tell them differently, a federal judge ruled in a Seattle case yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik said it is unconstitutional for the city to bar candidates from mentioning their opponents in statements they submit for publication in the city voters pamphlet. He held the restriction to be "viewpoint discriminatory" and a violation of free speech.

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A city ordinance prohibits all references to one's opponent in the voters pamphlet.

The seven-page written decision was a victory for Seattle City Council candidate Grant Cogswell, who is running against Councilman Richard McIver.

Cogswell sued the city over its refusal to allow him to criticize or even mention McIver in the voters pamphlet.

"Allowing the incumbent to talk about his record and achievements while denying (Cogswell) the opportunity to talk about those same topics provides the public with only one side of a debatable subject and deprives plaintiff of a fair opportunity to present himself and his candidacy to the voters," the judge said.

Cogswell's lawyers, arranged for him by the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that his campaign is based on what he contends is McIver's poor performance as the council's transportation chairman. They said he should be able to raise that issue in the pamphlet, just as McIver is free to cite his accomplishments as transportation chairman.

Cogswell said Lasnik's order "gives us the chance to do what we're normally supposed to be able to do in a democracy, which is to speak our minds freely."

Attorneys for the city had argued that the voters pamphlet has a limited purpose: merely to provide information about the candidates and not be a forum for campaign debates.

Immediately after the ruling, Seattle Ethics and Elections Director Carol Van Noy notified all candidates for city offices they are free to submit voters-pamphlet statements saying whatever they want about their opponents, so long as the statements aren't libelous or obscene.

Van Noy said she doesn't know whether the city will appeal the decision to try to reverse it for future elections, but that November's voters pamphlet won't have the restriction.

P-I reporter Neil Modie can be reached at 206-448-8321 or neilmodie@seattlepi.com

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