Free and fair elections

TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1
AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF 2
REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 3
THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED: 4
We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of 5
the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, 6
respectfully represent and petition as follows: 7
WHEREAS, The 1st President of the United States George Washington 8
stated, "The basis of our political systems is the right of the 9
people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government"; and10
WHEREAS, It was the stated intention of the framers of the 11
Constitution of the United States of America that the Congress of the 12
United States of America should be "dependent on the people alone"; 13
and 14
WHEREAS, That dependency has evolved from a dependency on the 15
people alone to a dependency on those who spend excessively in 16
elections, through campaigns or third-party groups; and17
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens 18
United v. Federal Election Commission , 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed 19
restrictions on amounts of independent political spending; and20
WHEREAS, The removal of those restrictions has resulted in the 21
unjust influence of powerful economic forces, which have supplanted 22
the will of the people by undermining our ability to choose our 23
H-2848.1
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4011
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Zahn, Salahuddin, Fosse, Parshley, Gregerson, and
Hill
Read first time 01/14/26. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HJM 4011
political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of 1
our state; and 2
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the 3
United States Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments 4
upon application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several 5
states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States 6
Constitution; and 7
WHEREAS, The State of Washington sees the need for a convention 8
to propose amendments in order to address concerns such as those 9
raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens 10
United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 130 S.Ct. 876 and 11
related cases and events including those occurring long before or 12
afterward or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires that 13
said convention should be so limited; and 14
WHEREAS, The State of Washington desires that the delegates to 15
said convention shall be comprised equally from individuals currently 16
elected to state and local office, or be selected by election, in 17
each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as delegates, 18
though all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or 19
in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the 20
Convention, and intends to retain the ability to restrict or expand 21
the power of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and22
WHEREAS, The legislature of the State of Washington intends that 23
this joint resolution be a continuing application considered together 24
with similar applications calling for a convention on this subject, 25
such as those approved by Vermont legislators (2014 Vermont Joint 26
Resolution Senate No. 27, 160 Congressional Record S4331, POM-284) 27
and introduced by Montana lawmakers (L.C. No. 0095), until such time 28
as the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states have applied 29
for such a convention and that convention has actually been called by 30
Congress; 31
NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully request that the 32
people of the State of Washington speaking through its legislature, 33
and pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, hereby 34
petition the United States Congress to call a Convention for the 35
purpose of proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United 36
States of America as soon as two-thirds of the several states have 37
applied for a Convention; and 38
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately 39
transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United 40
p. 2 HJM 4011
States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 1
House of Representatives, the Governor of each state, and the 2
presiding officer of each house of each state legislature in the 3
United States, to the Vice President of the United States in his 4
capacity as presiding officer of the United States Senate and 5
addressed to him at the legislative office that he maintains inside 6
the United States Capitol, and each member of Congress from the State 7
of Washington. 8
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p. 3 HJM 4011