Over 11,505 signatures submitted to county elections staff
Roughly 50 citizens rallied outside the Clark County Public Service building this afternoon in support of a mini initiative petition to stop vaccine mandates in Clark County. They believed in medical freedom of choice over what goes into their bodies.
Rob Anderson began the effort not quite two months ago, believing the forced vaccination mandates from the President Joe Biden and Jay Inslee administrations were illegal and unconstitutional.
“We call on the Clark County Council to ban all mandates within Clark County that discriminate against citizens regarding their health status and or that violate existing rights to health information privacy,” Anderson said as he welcomed the crowd. A table sat on the side where last minute signatures were collected.
Anderson and Vancouver attorney Angus Lee presented 11,505 signed petitions to Cathie Garber, Clark County Elections supervisor, a short time later. Anderson shared the proponents needed 8,311 signatures for the mini initiative to be valid. After a 30-day window to validate the signatures, the County Council will have 60 days to hold a public meeting, after which the councilors will have a 30-day time limit to make a decision.
“Citizens in Clark County have united together and said no more mandates,” he said. “We aren’t anti vax, or anti COVID. We’re anti discrimination in tyranny.” He pointedly remarked that one man has caused all the division and harm in Washington state.
“Governor Jay Inslee has bragged about using COVID for his political ideology,” Anderson said. “And he hasn’t backed down. He hides behind the guise of saving lives, as he is undoubtedly destroying lives.”
The effort began in early October at a local church, touting medical freedom and offering citizens ways to boost their immune system. Volunteers quickly picked up mini initiative petitions, placing them at area businesses and collecting signatures from friends and neighbors.
Anderson quoted the Washington State Constitution. “Political power — all political power is inherent in the people and the governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”
“Today, we do not consent to these mandates in tyranny,” he said. “Today, we don’t consent to firing people over what a federal judge just yesterday described as arbitrary and capricious.”
Rep. Vicki Kraft (Republican, 17th District) spoke briefly to the crowd. She applauded the people who had worked hard to collect signatures and defend their rights.
“The Washington and US Constitution guarantee and protect individual rights and freedoms,” she said. “We have seen for way too long now, almost two years, the governor and the majority party’s abuse of the emergency powers to push their agenda and their mandate on people who are not interested in that agenda, and certainly not in putting vaccines into their body.”
Anderson said that over 59 fully vaccinated people in Clark County just in the last few months have died. “Getting vaccinated will not end COVID like the propaganda signs on the freeway say.”
He shared that the volunteers had gotten signatures from people of all political persuasions. They included vaccinated people, unvaccinated people, and people who had recovered from COVID.
Clark County Today asked him what his expectations were when he began the mini initiative effort.
“My expectations were that the community would rally together,” he said. “They would want to exercise what’s been given to them by their Constitution, by their God really. So once they learned, once they were educated, they signed.”
Anderson believes they could gather tens of thousands more signatures, if they had time. “We know that this will be a fight,” he said, noting that many people don’t want to see it succeed. “But they’re outnumbered. I believe that the vast majority of people would sign this if we gave them time.”
The summary statement on the petition reads as follows:
AN ORDINANCE prohibiting all mandates within Clark County that discriminate against citizens regarding their health status and or that violates existing rights to health information privacy.
Read more here and here and here.
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