Join Referendum Measure 88 Signature Drive and Put I-1000 on the Ballot

Initiative 1000 seeks to repeal Washington Civil Rights Act (I-200) and was enacted by the Legislature on the last day of the session in order to deny a public vote on the matter. Referendum Measure 88 has been filed to put that choice where it really belongs – in the hands of the people. Referendum Measure 88 has the exact same language of I-1000. By qualifying Referendum Measure 88 for the November ballot, we are putting I-1000 in the form of Referendum Measure 88 on the ballot, and let people vote on I-1000 (again, in the form of Referendum 88) in November.

I-1000 can be summed up in one sentence: It would abolish the standard of equality for all, regardless of race, as required by I-200, and replace it with a system that uses different rules for people of different races.

We have till July 27th, to collect 170K signatures (129,811 valid, non-duplicated signature required) and qualify Referendum Measure 88 for the ballot. We need all the help we can get. If you are willing to participate in the fight to give voters the chance to vote on I-1000, please sign up using the form below and we’ll contact you with details.  Thanks!

If you have not registered to vote in WA, please register now so that your voice will be heard.

113 thoughts on “Join Referendum Measure 88 Signature Drive and Put I-1000 on the Ballot”

    • I -1000 screws over Veterans because it eliminates veterans preference in public employment. A preference in employment grated to Veterans by WA state for over a century.

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      • Thomas you are incorrect about I-1000 “eliminating veteran preference”. Here’s the truth…

        I-1000…
        “Redefine Affirmative Action to provide equal opportunity in Education, Employment and Contracting (Entrepreneurship) for the following groups:
        – Women
        **Veterans**
        – Persons with Disabilities
        – People of Color
        Expands Affirmative Action to **include all Honorably discharged Veterans**”

        +Resource: link to I-1000 site.

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        • You are either been misled or you are trying to mislead people. Either way, here is the FACT:

          TVW video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gQEUqTF-H0&feature=youtu.be

          transcript from the I-1000 public hearing…

          Representative Shea: Thank you Madam Chair. For those of us who are veterans, there is a concerning part of the definition section here, that appears to prohibit preferential treatment for somebodies honorably discharged status? But we routinely seem to do that all the time, with civil service points and schooling. Am I reading that correctly?

          House Non-partisan staff: Yes, Rep. Shea. The initiative will now prohibit the use of preferential treatment with respect to veterans, and all other listed characteristics. There are a number of state laws that provide preferences veterans; none of those statutes are being amended by the initiative, so I guess the court would have to try and harmonize those statutes with the provisions of the initiative, to the extent that there is a conflict. Under the initiative preferential treatment is defined as using that characteristic, so veteran status, as the sole factor to choose a lesser qualified candidate over a more qualified candidate.

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    • Fully agree. Why are we choosing to replace hard work and dedication to your education and career with handouts. Hard work should be applauded and valued. and not punished.

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    • No for me – especially since your supporters gave out FALSE info about veterans and what this ref would do. SHAME ON YOU, how UN-American.

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      • Well, we are NOT the ones that giving out false info about veterans. The Pro side is misleading people. Washington Stat Veterans Bar Association issued a statement on their site saying: “R – 88 will hurt veterans by eliminating Veterans Preference” https://www.wsvba.org/reject-r-88 Read yourself. Also Seattle Times editorial board admitted the flaw and said “Voters should remember that these details are easily addressed by amending the legislation.”

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  1. It has impact on everyone in Washington state. Let’s have an open debate and vote for it. The first thing of affirmative is making everyone voting equally.

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    • “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

      -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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      • Whatever selection process based on race or skin color rather than individual performance is not fair to all people. Anyone selected to a certain position would feel offended if his/her qualification Is ignored compared to other factors.

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    • “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

      -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  2. On August 2, 2010, the Supreme Court of California found for the second time that Proposition 209 was constitutional. The ruling, by a 6-1 majority, followed a unanimous affirmation in 2000 of the constitutionality of Prop. 209 by the same court. Prop 209 removed Affirmative Action in California because it is based on racial discrimination of Caucasians.

    On April 2, 2012, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the latest challenge to Proposition 209. The three-judge panel concluded that it was bound by a 9th Circuit ruling in 1997 upholding the constitutionality of the affirmative action ban. Even the wildly left wing 9th Circuit ruled against Affirmative Action.

    The misguided Washington State legislature thinks minorities need help, that is a racist mindset that needs to change.

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  3. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  4. This is totally a violation of equal human rights. We should never ever tolerant any racism! Any kinds of support to I-1000 is criminal!

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  5. Can those legislators think in the shoes of a Chinese American kid who was born in Washington state? Because of your parents’ race, you will be severely penalized! Please keep in mind, even in today’s no-AA policy, Chinese American kids needs 100+ higher SAT than peers to be admitted to the same schoool.

    Is this American dream or American nightmare?

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  6. We should reject I-1000. It is systemic racism!
    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  7. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “
    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  8. We should reject I-1000. It is systemic racism!
    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  9. We should reject I-1000. It is systemic racism!
    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  10. “I have a dream that my two little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

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  11. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “
    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  12. The only institutionalized racism is government sponsored racism. State of Washington just went down that path. Radical left wants to control people through victimhood and many are too eager to buy into it without knowing that it will only lead to one’s own peril.

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  13. Time to stop this pure racism against Asians! Do whatever you can to change our fate and fight for this unfairness。Reject I -1000

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  14. Let all the voters decide!!!
    “I have a dream that my two little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.“

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  15. Affirmative action is used as remedy for the unfair treatment African Americans has been suffered back in history. However, this is not a case here, African Americans wasn’t segregated from any community in WA states for the past several decades. There is not remedy for African Americans since there is no harm. I 1000 is not Affrimative action, it is a racial discrimination deliberately against Asian Americans who values education and hard work. Shame on the Democrats voted yes.

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  16. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “
    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  17. This is just ridiculous. We are either all equal or not, period. Stop trying to divide our nation. We are all American’s first.

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  18. God is equal to everyone’s sacrifice. Why should I give way to people pay less than me. It’s not fair and racism. Why people hire or not hire me due to my skin’s color! So horrible. What they did is just another kind of discrimination! Color of my skin should never be used and judged like this way !

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  19. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  20. If we are ever to create a society with true equal opportunity, then we need to completely look past skin color all together. That includes everyone of all colors. These regressive policies were put into place in the early 90’s. Democrats and Republicans in Washington State saw it as such in 1996. There is a reason that we banned Affirmative Action back then. Because it is nothing more than another way to separate people by their appearance. It is not right for equality or a civilized society. The only reason someone should get a job is because they are the most qualified. Period. No other considerations need to be made.

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  21. Affirmative Action is inherently racist and sexist. By basing selection on a persons features, and thus excluding others without said features (ie skin color, ethnicity, gender or social status) is unlawful, unethical and immoral.

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  22. Preferential treatment is unfair for the hardworking group, and will harm the minorities in the long run by setting lower bars. I’m so disappointed about the democrats in WA. Let’s try to change it.

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  23. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  24. We should reject I-1000. It is systemic racism!
    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  25. We should reject I-1000. It is systemic racism!
    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Reply
  26. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “

    -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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  27. I-1000 is a discrimination against all races. Why do people think women, veterans, people of color, etc. are not as good as others?

    When a group of people look down to another group of people, it is a racism.

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  28. I saw Apr 25 committee meeting and Apr 18 public hearing, the testimony of I-1000 supporters have no logic behind it. They kept saying they don’t want discrimination, they want to bring equality to all races, sexual, they want to develop diversity. While current law allow absolutely no discrimination, not even consider race, sexual, color in any circumstances. Now, I-1000 consider races, colors, sexual, I-1000 want each group of minorities be angry with each other. Now, individual people may not get their dream offer they deserves no matter how smart they are, no matter how hardworking they are, just because their race, sexual, colors they are proud of. Now, minorities not only worry about discrimination from majorities, but have to worry about discrimination from other minorities. We all know the equality and diversity is a big social issue to solve, but what is the root cause, was I-200 lead to discrimination? Is I-1000 really the right solution? If it is, why people voted to ban affirmative action 20 years ago? Now the representatives want to summon the devil back, with some so called amendments while looks to me like wording games, without any effort to analyze and address the issue of affirmative action. Come on, 20 years already, can you be creative and find some other measures that would actually work? The only reasonable proof that I-1000 supporters provided, and been keeping quoted in the hearing for more than 10 times, was: “Before I-200 was passed, the state spent roughly 10 percent of its contracting dollars with minority and woman-owned businesses, that dropped to below 3 percent within the following years and has never recovered.” Good, you talked about numbers and real issues, but dear officers, why I-1000 is the correct solution? Did you try any other solutions? Please tell us, let us think about other good solutions other than the ones you had tried. Please, do tell us, we have so many smart people in Washington state to help, we share the same dream towards a better Washington state without discrimination of any form. Let’s be clear, Affirmative action is a discrimination, it is not believing minorities could win purely based on themselves, and it surely will frustrate diligent minorities. Now we have to vote to repeal I-1000, we don’t want history replay again, we want to move forward. Look at us, we are Barack, Bill, Mohandas, Juan, Ming, we are not black, white, yellow.

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  29. Last year Bellevue School District’s “Racial Equity” policy and this year WA’s I-1000 are all wake-up calls for us. We Asian in WA need to think how to do better at election time and to help elect the right politician.

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  30. The legislature shouldn’t be taking this vote away from the people. Any preferential treatment based on race is racist period. While beneficial to some, its discriminatory to others. Things like college admissions are a zero sum game; if you benefit one racial group, you punish another.

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  31. What a shame on racism! Why could not we just unite all smart people together regardless of race, gender and nationalism and make the WA state better?!

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  32. My previous comments have not been approved.
    Let’s see if this one makes it.
    Asians, Jews, Blacks, and others have been and continue to be discriminated against. I200 removed the protections that were put in place to ensure that they had a fair chance.
    I wish POC could walk into a job interview and NOT be judged on anything other than their skills, but that isn’t what happens. You all know the stereotypes, that is what many (not all by any means) employers see.
    Repealing I200 means that you, or your child, or your spouse, or a friend may get a chance to use those hard-earned degrees to prove you can do the job and maybe to open one previously closed mind.

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    • I think you confused I-200 with I-1000. I-200 clearly states “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”. I-1000, on the other hand, attempted to allow race to be used in public employment, public education, public contracting. Voters rejected I-1000 in November, 2019.

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