Secretary of State Kim Wyman has certified Initiative to the Legislature 732, which deals with carbon taxes.

It was a close call, though, despite sponsors turning in 363,126 signatures, nearly 120,000 more than the bare number of valid voter signatures required (246,372).

That’s because an unusually high error rate was discovered when election crews checked a 3 percent random sample of 11,061 signatures.  The error rate was 27.59 percent, well above the historic average of 18 percent. That was due primarily to duplicate signatures, but also reflected invalid signatures, primarily those of people not found on the Washington voter rolls.

In fact, if a few more duplicate signatures had turned up in the random check, the Elections Division would have had to check all 363,126 signatures. Initiatives cannot be rejected using the random sample method.

As it was, the signature check projects that sponsors brought in only a slim cushion of 16,568 signatures, or 262,940.

The error rate was the highest in at least 25 years.

The measure will now go to the Legislature for first consideration. Lawmakers have the option of passing it as is, letting it go to the fall statewide ballot, or sending it and a legislative alternative to the ballot. Environmentalists have also discussed the potential of an alternative citizen’s initiative on the same subject.

The Elections Division crew now turns to a random sample check of Initiative to the Legislature 735, which seeks to put the state on record as favoring a U.S. constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.  Here is text of I-735.

Both I-732 and I-735 were previously certified provisionally to the Legislature, subject to signature verification.