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2010 initiative season underway

2010 initiative season underway

It looks like 2010 could be a busy year for ballot measures. We’re getting word that initiative activist Tim Eyman is already in the field with his anti-tax I-1053, after picking up the unusually early endorsement of the state GOP over the weekend.   This follows the recent filing of two controversial initiatives by well-connected groups – legalizing marijuana and privatizing the state-run worker’s comp insurance program. Eyman’s latest plan presumes the Democrats will suspend his previously approved I-960 and raise…

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Thurston judge OKs pause in Eyman lawsuit

Thurston judge OKs pause in Eyman lawsuit

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks has granted the state’s request to pause  further proceedings in initiative activist Tim Eyman’s court challenge of the Secretary of State’s policy of releasing initiative petitions under terms of the Public Records Act. Hicks agreed with a motion brought by a senior official of the Attorney General’s Office, Deputy Solicitor General James Pharris, to put a hold on the Thurston County lawsuit while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to review a federal…

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Election official: Citizen legislating is public business

Election official: Citizen legislating is public business

Initiative activist Tim Eyman has been rebuffed in his attempt to overturn the Office of Secretary of State’s policy of treating initiative and referendum petitions as releasable public records. That question is, of course, being litigated in federal court as we speak (or blog).  Social conservatives who oppose the state’s new domestic partnership law have secured a federal court order blocking release of Referendum 71 petitions. Secretary Sam Reed, backed by the counsel of Attorney General Rob McKenna, has headed…

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The disclosure history of petition sheets

The disclosure history of petition sheets

On Wednesday, initiative king Tim Eyman distributed an e-mail to his supporters,the media, legislators and Gov. Gregoire in which he criticized Secretary of State Sam Reed and officials in our office regarding our office’s history on our policy regarding the release of initiative or referendum petition sheets. The following sets the record straight on this matter:  After Washington voters passed Initiative 276 in 1972 that created the Public Records Act, various Secretary of State administrations took the position, from 1973…

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I-1033: Judge won’t edit wording in Voters’ Pamphlet

I-1033: Judge won’t edit wording in Voters’ Pamphlet

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks denied Initiative 1033 sponsor Tim Eyman’s request this morning that wording about I-1033 be changed in the statewide Voters’ Pamphlet. Eyman had argued that the state Office of Financial Management’s cost estimate includes some incorrect assumptions about how the ballot measure would work, and he wanted the judge to add a disclaimer that said the financial assumptions were in dispute.  Under state law, OFM is required to prepare a fiscal impact statement on…

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Eyman comes clean: I-1033 petitions sport low error rate

Eyman comes clean: I-1033 petitions sport low error rate

State initiative checkers are always cranky about how many bad signatures are submitted by some sponsors. We’re not talking doctors’ signature bad, but rather the traditionally high number that are either not registered voters or are duplicates or dippy (as in using the name “Mickey Mouse”).   Historically, about 1 in 5 signatures, over 18 percent,  don’t pan out. One recent measure had a 26.1 percent error rate and plenty have topped 20 percent. It’s bad enough that officials suggest that sponsors turn in a…

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Initial count: Eyman’s I-1033 has over 315K sigs

Initial count: Eyman’s I-1033 has over 315K sigs

Our Elections Division reports it has completed its initial count of the signatures submitted last week in support of Initiative 1033, Tim Eyman and Co.’s measure that would cap the growth of revenue for state, county and city general funds. And the total is … 315,444, far above the minimum of 241,153 needed to qualify for this November’s ballot. According to Elections, the new figure “does not include signatures on petitions that did not contain the full text of the…

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Eyman’s latest: The Tim Machine kicks in

Eyman’s latest: The Tim Machine kicks in

Tim Eyman, the robo-sponsor of initiatives for smaller, cheaper government, and his partners have turned in what they estimate as over 314,000 voter signatures in support of the latest measure, I-1033. That would appear to be enough to earn a place on the November ballot, and apparently the only citizen initiative voters will face this year.  It’s Eyman’s 12th to make the ballot. Sponsors of a measure cracking down on services to illegal immigrants said they didn’t collect enough signatures to warrant a…

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Eyman camp bringing in initiative sheets Thursday

Eyman camp bringing in initiative sheets Thursday

Initiative kingpin Tim Eyman and his cohorts will buzz down to the Capitol City at 11 a.m. on July 2 to bring in box loads of Initiative 1033 petitions.  It’s considered the most likely initiative for the statewide ballot in November. The measure, also sponsored by Mike and Jack Fagan of Spokane, is called the Lower Property Taxes Initiative.  It would cap the growth of general fund revenue, including taxes, fees and other sources of moolah, with any excess dedicated to property tax…

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R-71 monitoring plan draws Eyman fire

R-71 monitoring plan draws Eyman fire

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman is taking aim at potential harassment of signature-gatherers  and people who sign their petitions.  One feature of his new initiative says the names, signatures and addresses of people who sign initiatives and referenda would be blacked out before petition sheets are made public by the state Elections Division. This grows out of announced plans by some supporters of a new “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law to put online the names and addresses of all who sign…

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