BILL REQ. #:  H-2006.1 



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HOUSE BILL 2255
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State of Washington60th Legislature2007 Regular Session

By Representatives Chandler and Kretz

Read first time 02/14/2007.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.



     AN ACT Relating to encouraging initiatives and referendums by extending privacy protections to signatories and assuring accurate verification; amending RCW 29A.72.110, 29A.72.120, 29A.72.130, 29A.72.170, and 29A.72.230; adding a new section to chapter 29A.72 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature to ensure vibrant initiative and referendum participation by guarding privacy and assuring that all valid signatures are attributed to initiatives and referenda as part of the review process.
     Washington's laws and Constitution ensure that a voter's decision on who they vote for or against and what measures he or she votes for or against is not publicly revealed. Such a violation of privacy may subject voters to potential harassment, retaliation, and intimidation. Similar chilling of constitutional rights will be avoided by extending privacy protection to those engaged in the right to peacefully petition their government by initiative and referendum.
     It is also the intent of the legislature to ensure that valid voter signatures on initiative and referendum petitions count and will not be rejected by the secretary of state. If a voter signs an initiative or referendum petition and his or her petition signature matches the signature on their voter registration, then the signature must be accepted by the secretary of state. Valid voter signatures must count, invalid ones should not, and scrutiny to assure this result is preferred to actions and regulations which might chill the exercise of the right to petition.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 29A.72 RCW to read as follows:
     Initiative and referendum petitions and the names and addresses of citizens contained on them that are submitted to the secretary of state are not public records under chapter 42.56 RCW and shall not be made public beyond the observers as specified in RCW 29A.72.230.

Sec. 3   RCW 29A.72.110 and 2005 c 239 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     Petitions for proposing measures for submission to the legislature at its next regular session must be substantially in the following form:

     The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:


     INITIATIVE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION TO THE LEGISLATURE


To the Honorable . . . . . ., Secretary of State of the State of Washington:
     We, the undersigned citizens and legal voters of the State of Washington, respectfully direct that this petition and the proposed measure known as Initiative Measure No. . . . . and entitled (here set forth the established ballot title of the measure), a full, true, and correct copy of which is printed on the reverse side of this petition, be transmitted to the legislature of the State of Washington at its next ensuing regular session, and we respectfully petition the legislature to enact said proposed measure into law; and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a legal voter of the State of Washington in the city (or town) and county written after my name, my residence address is correctly stated, ((and)) I have knowingly signed this petition only once, and I have voluntarily signed this petition without any compensation or promise of compensation.
     ((The following declaration must be printed on the reverse side of the petition:

     I, . . . . . . . . . . . ., swear or affirm under penalty of law that I circulated this sheet of the foregoing petition, and that, to the best of my knowledge, every person who signed this sheet of the foregoing petition knowingly and without any compensation or promise of compensation willingly signed his or her true name and that the information provided therewith is true and correct.)) I further acknowledge that under chapter 29A.84 RCW, forgery of signatures on this petition constitutes a class C felony, and that offering any consideration or gratuity to any person to induce them to sign a petition is a gross misdemeanor, such violations being punishable by fine or imprisonment or both.
     RCW 9A.46.020 applies to any conduct constituting harassment against a petition signature gatherer. This penalty does not preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available under law.
-- END OF WARNING -- (the line "-- END OF WARNING --" does not need to appear on the petition)

     The petition must include a place for each petitioner to sign and print his or her name, and the address, city, and county at which he or she is registered to vote.

Sec. 4   RCW 29A.72.120 and 2005 c 239 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     Petitions for proposing measures for submission to the people for their approval or rejection at the next ensuing general election must be substantially in the following form:

     The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:


     INITIATIVE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION TO THE PEOPLE


To the Honorable . . . . . ., Secretary of State of the State of Washington:
     We, the undersigned citizens and legal voters of the State of Washington, respectfully direct that the proposed measure known as Initiative Measure No. . . . ., entitled (here insert the established ballot title of the measure), a full, true and correct copy of which is printed on the reverse side of this petition, be submitted to the legal voters of the State of Washington for their approval or rejection at the general election to be held on the . . . . . day of November, (year); and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a legal voter of the State of Washington, in the city (or town) and county written after my name, my residence address is correctly stated, ((and)) I have knowingly signed this petition only once, and I have voluntarily signed this petition without any compensation or promise of compensation.
     ((The following declaration must be printed on the reverse side of the petition:

     I, . . . . . . . . . . . ., swear or affirm under penalty of law that I circulated this sheet of the foregoing petition, and that, to the best of my knowledge, every person who signed this sheet of the foregoing petition knowingly and without any compensation or promise of compensation willingly signed his or her true name and that the information provided therewith is true and correct.)) I further acknowledge that under chapter 29A.84 RCW, forgery of signatures on this petition constitutes a class C felony, and that offering any consideration or gratuity to any person to induce them to sign a petition is a gross misdemeanor, such violations being punishable by fine or imprisonment or both.
     RCW 9A.46.020 applies to any conduct constituting harassment against a petition signature gatherer. This penalty does not preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available under law.
-- END OF WARNING -- (the line "-- END OF WARNING --" does not need to appear on the petition)

     The petition must include a place for each petitioner to sign and print his or her name, and the address, city, and county at which he or she is registered to vote.

Sec. 5   RCW 29A.72.130 and 2005 c 239 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     Petitions ordering that acts or parts of acts passed by the legislature be referred to the people at the next ensuing general election, or special election ordered by the legislature, must be substantially in the following form:

     The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:


     PETITION FOR REFERENDUM


To the Honorable . . . . . ., Secretary of State of the State of Washington:
     We, the undersigned citizens and legal voters of the State of Washington, respectfully order and direct that Referendum Measure No. . . . . ., filed to revoke a (or part or parts of a) bill that (concise statement required by RCW 29A.36.071) and that was passed by the . . . . . . legislature of the State of Washington at the last regular (special) session of said legislature, shall be referred to the people of the state for their approval or rejection at the regular (special) election to be held on the . . . . day of November, (year); and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a legal voter of the State of Washington, in the city (or town) and county written after my name, my residence address is correctly stated, ((and)) I have knowingly signed this petition only once, and that I have voluntarily signed this petition without any compensation or promise of compensation.
     ((The following declaration must be printed on the reverse side of the petition:

     I, . . . . . . . . . . . ., swear or affirm under penalty of law that I circulated this sheet of the foregoing petition, and that, to the best of my knowledge, every person who signed this sheet of the foregoing petition knowingly and without any compensation or promise of compensation willingly signed his or her true name and that the information provided therewith is true and correct.)) I further acknowledge that under chapter 29A.84 RCW, forgery of signatures on this petition constitutes a class C felony, and that offering any consideration or gratuity to any person to induce them to sign a petition is a gross misdemeanor, such violations being punishable by fine or imprisonment or both.
     RCW 9A.46.020 applies to any conduct constituting harassment against a petition signature gatherer. This penalty does not preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available under law.
-- END OF WARNING -- (the line "-- END OF WARNING --" does not need to appear on the petition)

     The petition must include a place for each petitioner to sign and print his or her name, and the address, city, and county at which he or she is registered to vote.

Sec. 6   RCW 29A.72.170 and 2003 c 111 s 1818 are each amended to read as follows:
     The secretary of state may refuse to file any initiative or referendum petition being submitted upon any of the following grounds:
     (1) That the petition does not contain the information required by RCW 29A.72.110, 29A.72.120, or 29A.72.130.
     (2) That the petition clearly bears insufficient signatures.
     (3) That the time within which the petition may be filed has expired.
     In case of such refusal, the secretary of state shall endorse on the petition the word "submitted" and the date, and retain the petition pending appeal.
     If none of the grounds for refusal exists, the secretary of state must accept and file the petition.
     Concerning individual voter signatures on an initiative or referendum petition, the secretary of state shall not reject a valid voter signature if the requirements in subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section are fulfilled. If the voter's signature matches the signature on the voter's registration card, the signature must be accepted.

Sec. 7   RCW 29A.72.230 and 2003 c 111 s 1823 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((.)) subject to the following:
     (1) 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.
     (2) 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 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.
     (3) The secretary of state may use a more thorough review technique adopted by rule as provided by chapter 34.05 RCW and applied uniformly when proponents are unable to file an affidavit affirming that no signatures were collected by any individuals with a financial interest in the proposed policy change, whether those financial interests were resulting from their employment with assigned duties including facilitating the collection of signatures, their membership in a labor organization seeking the financial interests of any employee group affected by the proposed policy change, their employment by a firm with a financial interest in the proposed policy change, their employment by a public entity affected by the proposed policy change, or their past or expected receipt of funds or services as a result of the proposed policy change. The wrongful filing of an affidavit of no financial interest is a class C felony and subject to enforcement by the attorney general.
     (4) 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. 8   Sections 3, 4, and 5 of this act take effect January 1, 2008. The remaining sections of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect immediately.

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