H.E.L.P., the Honest Elections Project, needs your help.

The Honest Elections Project is the campaign for Initiative 23, the King County ballot measure for changing the county Elections director from an appointed position to an elected position. King County is currently the only county in the state without and elected Auditor and where the Elections office is controlled by the county executive. The result has been Dean Logan and the 2004 election. Electing the Auditor won't guaranteed perfection, but at least we'll have an Elections office that is separately and directly accountable to the voters.

H.E.L.P. needs 46,000 signatures by Nov. 28 in order to get I-23 on the ballot in November 2006. If I-23 passes, the first election for county auditor would be in November 2007 and every four years thereafter. H.E.L.P. was initiated by County Councilmember Jane Hague, who herself ran the Elections office in the late 80s and early 90s. Polls show it has overwhelming support, but with the compressed timeline, concurrence with this November's election and facing the structural obstacles that are designed to inhibit county ballot initiatives, there's a lot of work to do to get I-23 on the ballot.

The Honest Elections Project needs your financial support and, most of all, your signature and your neighbors' signatures. Do what you can to help bring honest elections to King County.