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Tag: Initiatives

Questions about initiatives with Co-Director of Elections

Questions about initiatives with Co-Director of Elections

Katie Blinn, co-director of our office’s Elections Division, provides the lowdown on what’s happening with the three initiatives submitted recently. Q) July 8 was the last day that signatures for initiatives could be brought to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division this year. How many initiatives were submitted and what do they cover? Three were turned in. Initiative 1125 is Tim Eyman’s measure that affects transportation funding, including tolling on I-90 and Highway 520 bridges across Lake Washington. I-1163 is…

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Taking the initiative

Taking the initiative

An elections worker counts pages for I-1183, the liquor privatization measure. Elections Division crews will review signatures submitted for three citizen initiatives. Together, sponsors estimate they brought in more than 1 million signatures by Friday’s deadline. They are: Initiative 1183 was the first measure to come in. It would close state liquor stores and privatize liquor sales, excluding smaller stores. I-1183 sponsors said they turned in 354,398 signatures. One 1183 official said that about 150,000 of the signatures were gathered…

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Eyman’s back

Eyman’s back

UPDATED ON 1/12/11.  Updates last paragraph to change suggested number of voter signatures for sponsors to submit …. If it’s the second Monday in January, it must mean one thing: Tim Eyman is filing another initiative with the Office of Secretary of State. (Oh, by the way, the Legislature began its 2011 session at noon Monday.) Eyman wasted little time jumping on Monday’s official kickoff to initiative filing season. Joined by his initiative partners Mike and Jack Fagan, Eyman held…

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Initiatives: Why we do random checks

Initiatives: Why we do random checks

After more than three weeks, the State Elections Division’s signature checkers last week finished their work on the six initiatives that were submitted this summer. As expected, all six have qualified for this November’s General Election ballot. Because all six initiatives turned in such a large number of signatures, each was allowed to undergo a 3 percent sample check instead of a full signature check, greatly expediting the process. Initiative 1107 (repealing taxes on candy, pop, bottled water) collected the…

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SecState: Patrol will probe initiative signature fraud

SecState: Patrol will probe initiative signature fraud

Election officials have completed a review of apparent fraud by a signature-gatherer who submitted 349 names on 20 petition sheets in support of Initiative 1098. The case will be turned over to the Washington State Patrol. The review showed that most of the names were invalid, either because the person was not found on voter registration rolls or the signature and address did not match those on file. All of the questioned names had been set aside and were not…

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WA income tax plan headed for ballot

WA income tax plan headed for ballot

Initiative 1098, a plan by Bill Gates Sr. and others to authorize an income tax on the wealthy and reduce some other taxes, is headed to the statewide ballot in Washington. Although state officials are investigating apparent fraud by one of the campaign’s signature gatherers, the  state Elections Division announced late Thursday that a 3 percent random check of the huge number of unchallenged signatures showed easily enough valid signatures to assure a spot on the ballot. The campaign had…

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SecState requests patrol probe of I-1098 sig fraud

SecState requests patrol probe of I-1098 sig fraud

The Secretary of State’s Election Division is asking the Washington State Patrol to look into apparent fraud by a petition-gatherer for Initiative 1098. The initiative, a plan for a high-wage earner income tax and lower other taxes, apparently is headed to the statewide ballot. Crews are mid-way through a random check of signatures. Sponsors submitted about 350,000 signatures on about 25,000 petition sheets, and a random sample of 11,545 signatures are being checked. As part of the standard practice of…

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I-1100 certified, I-1082 being checked

I-1100 certified, I-1082 being checked

Secretary of State Sam Reed Monday afternoon certified Initiative 1100, the last step for the liquor privatization measure to be placed on this November’s ballot. Using a random sample method, the I-1100 signature check was completed late Friday afternoon after only two days of work, a day or two sooner than anticipated. As expected, it easily qualified for the fall ballot. One of two liquor initiatives to privatize liquor sales in Washington, the 1100 campaign turned in about 396,000 signatures,…

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`Direct democracy’ — A six-pack for 2010

`Direct democracy’ — A six-pack for 2010

It’s a bumper crop of initiatives apparently headed to the fall ballot.  On Friday, the deadline day for submitting petitions, three more campaigns brought in hundreds of thousands of signatures. This brought to six the number of initiatives to the people for the year, tying the modern record set in 2000. The all-time record was the seven on the 1914 ballot, almost a century ago, the first year we could use the initiative and referendum process. Sponsors of two anti-tax…

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What if both liquor initiatives pass?

What if both liquor initiatives pass?

  It’s a logical question to ask: What if Washington voters approve BOTH of the rival initiatives to take the state out of the liquor retail business? Logical, but not easy to answer. In short, the state Constitution, the statute books and the courts haven’t laid down a rule to follow in cases like this.  Some states use the common-sense approach that the one getting more votes will be implemented, but it’s no certainty what happens if both Initiative 1100…

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