September 25, 2004- In a continuing volley of correspondence with the Lieutenant Governor, Eric Croft, one of the sponsors of the initiative creating ballot measure 4, urged Loren Leman to fulfill his statutory obligation to provide true and impartial information to Alaskans on their ballots.

"The Lt Governor is playing politics with our ballots," claimed Peggy Wilcox, campaign manager for Trust the People, Yes on 4, "the point of our initiative and this ballot measure is whether we, Alaskan voters, get to choose who represents us in the US Senate. As I've said before, I don't want the governor and the Murkowski administration making our decision for us."

"In placing incorrect and biased language on the ballot, Lt. Gov. Leman is not only breaking the law, but violating the sanctity of the polling booth," continued Wilcox, "When you pull the curtain behind you and start to vote, the Murkowski administration will be in there with you if this language isn't changed. That's exactly the kind of influence ballot measure 4 is designed to stop. I hope the Lt. Governor's actions outrage every registered voter in the state."

"It is Lt. Governor Leman's statutory obligation to provide accurate and impartial ballot language," said Eric Croft, "and he failed on both counts. His defense of his actions, that his factual inaccuracy and bias on our general election ballot is 'close enough', is not good enough for Alaskan voters. I urge the Lt. Governor to do the right thing and revert to the previous language."

Sponsors of the initiative and the campaign to vote yes on proposition 4 both support using the original ballot language before it was manipulated by the Murkowski administration: "This bill would repeal state laws by which the governor makes a temporary appointment of a US Senator who serves until an election can be held. Under the initiative, a special election would be called to fill the vacancy unless the vacancy occurs within 60 days of the primary election for that seat. The person elected would fill the remainder of the vacant term. Political parties would nominate candidates to appear on a special ballot."

In a final comment, Eric Croft asserted, "Our initiative has not changed since it was certified. The original ballot language still applies. The only reason to change it is to try to influence the outcome of the election."