Kim Wright, founder of Oklahoma Independents, drafted an open letter to the Governor and is collecting signatures on an open letter to the Governor to protest actions by the state Attorney General who recently indicted 3 activists. The indictments came after efforts to put a tax reform initiative on the ballot and are widely viewed as an effort to undercut the right to initiative and referendum and discourage grassroots democracy. Read Kim’s letter and the Wall Street Journal editorial supporting the group.
Dear Governor Henry,
As Independent voters, we are concerned that the initiative and referendum process in Oklahoma is being threatened. Three initiative leaders were brought up on criminal charges by the Attorney General for hiring out-of-state petition carriers to help place an initiative on the ballot, after they had been assured that it was legal. More than 300,000 Oklahomans signed the petition. However, the court ultimately ruled the initiative off the ballot and it was never voted on.
Now, almost a year later, the Attorney General has indicted the three initiative leaders for «willfully violating» the state’s residency requirements. His persecution of the initiative leaders is a blow to the democratic rights of Oklahoma citizens. It serves only to frighten and intimidate voters from exercising their constitutional rights to participate in the initiative process.
We urge you to call on the Attorney General to drop this indictment and to defend our right to initiative and referendum.
Kim Wright
Founder, Independent Voters of Oklahoma
El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso 