Washington voters soundly reject I-522

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2013 —

Vote defeats misleading food labeling proposal in Washington state

SEATTLE – The No on 522 campaign claimed victory tonight as Washington voters soundly rejected Initiative 522, the badly written and costly food labeling initiative on the November statewide ballot.

I-522 was brought to the Washington state ballot this year by anti-GMO activists as part of a self-proclaimed national agenda to ban foods derived from genetically engineered crops.  The initiative was opposed by a broad coalition of family farmers, scientists, doctors, consumers and businesses from across the state.

With almost one million votes counted, at least one media outlet has announced that Initiative 522 has been defeated. At the time of that announcement the vote was 55% favoring NO.

“This is a clear victory for Washington consumers, taxpayers and family farmers across our state,” said Dana Bieber, spokesperson for No on 522, in a statement Tuesday evening. “Washington voters have soundly rejected this badly written and deceptive initiative.”

I-522 would have provided consumers with inaccurate and misleading information about the foods they buy, while increasing grocery costs to working families by hundreds of dollars per year. And it would have burdened family farmers with costly new regulations and red tape, and exposed them to shake-down, bounty hunter law suits

“With Washington voters, it always comes down to the facts.  And the facts showed that I-522 was a badly written initiative that deserved to be rejected,” said Bieber.

The No on I-522 campaign extends its sincere thank you to the efforts and support of thousands of its coalition members from across our state who spoke out against I-522 as part of our campaign.

More information about I-522 can be found www.FactsAbout522.com

Brad Harwood
(206) 201-119
[email protected]

 

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