Still on the books in Washington: Communists barred from voting

It’s been nearly 50 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Washington state law, barring members of the Communist Party from voting or holding public-sector jobs, is unconstitutional.

But that’s apparently not enough time to remove it from the books.

Burien Representative Joe Fitzgibbon introduced a measure to repeal Washington state’s anti-subversives law last year.

Washington is among a handful of states with similar laws, declared unconstitutional decades ago.

He figured it would further distance the nation from a dark period in its history, but the measure failed.

Fitzgibbon reintroduced the measure this year, understanding it was unlikely to even get out of committee. So far that suspicion has been confirmed.