Z-0934.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5977
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senator Rinehart; by request of Office of Financial Management
Read first time 04/08/93. Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.
AN ACT Relating to the verification of initiative and referendum petitions; amending RCW 29.79.200; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 29.79.200 and 1982 c 116 s 15 are each amended to read as follows:
Upon the filing of an initiative or referendum
petition, the secretary of state shall proceed to verify and canvass the names
of the legal voters on the petition. The verification and canvass of
signatures on the petition may be observed by persons representing the
advocates and opponents of the proposed measure so long as they make no record
of the names, addresses, or other information on the petitions or related
records during the verification process except upon the order of the superior
court of Thurston county. The secretary of state may limit the number of
observers to not less than two on each side, if in his or her opinion, a
greater number would cause undue delay or disruption of the verification
process. Any such limitation shall apply equally to both sides. The secretary
of state may use any statistical sampling techniques for this verification and
canvass which have been adopted by rule as provided by chapter 34.05 RCW. No
petition will be rejected on the basis of any statistical method employed, and
no petition will be accepted on the basis of any statistical method employed if
such method indicates that the petition contains ((less than one hundred ten
percent of)) fewer than the requisite number of signatures of legal
voters. If the secretary of state finds the same name signed to more than one
petition, he or she shall reject all but the first such valid signature. For
an initiative to the legislature, the secretary of state shall transmit a
certified copy of the proposed measure to the legislature at the opening of its
session and, as soon as the signatures on the petition have been verified and
canvassed, the secretary of state shall send to the legislature a certificate of
the facts relating to the filing, verification, and canvass of the petition.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993.
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