Citizens in Charge

The state of Washington has an active state-wide initiative process, so naturally elected officials in the state want to do everything they can to put a stop to it:

Critics on Wednesday weighed in on a measure aimed at tightening regulations on signature-gathering, saying it would make it harder for grassroots initiatives to make the ballot and would target signature gatherers for harassment from opponents.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Chris Reykdal, D-Tumwater, requires all signature-gathering businesses and paid signature gatherers to register with the Secretary of State. It also increases the fee for filing initiatives or referenda from $5 to $500, $450 of which would be refunded if the measure qualifies for the ballot.

The bill’s sponsors say the measure would help guarantee the validity of signatures collected by signature-gathering businesses, and ensure greater transparency in the ballot measure process.

“The integrity of our ballot system will be made better if the voters have confidence that those issues that make the ballot have tremendous rigor and have an accountability to them,” Reykdal said at the bill’s hearing Wednesday. The greatest risk comes from paid signature gatherers, he explained, and the bill would give authorities some means to track them down, should any questionable activity take place.

“For me, this is a consumer protection issue,” he said.

Supporters of the bill mentioned two recent cases of signature fraud at the hearing: one involving a Service Employee International Union volunteer accused of forging signatures in support of I-1098 last year, which is still being prosecuted; and one in which two women were prosecuted for forging signatures for I-985 in the 2008 election.

But opponents like initiative promoter Tim Eyman fear the bill would stifle people’s ability to get their issues on the ballot, especially grassroots groups that lack money to raise support for their proposals.

Eyman argued the problem lawmakers purport to be solving - that of fraudulent signatures being submitted with initiative petitions - doesn’t exist, and the bill would just serve to burden the process.

The bill requires that all paid signature gatherers submit their full name, street address and a photograph of themselves when registering with the Secretary of State.

“It would essentially put a target on every single person that is collecting signatures, making them hugely susceptible to harassment from people who oppose the initiative,” Eyman said.

He said the measure also increases the likelihood of valid signatures being thrown out, since petitions lacking the gatherer’s contact information would be disqualified by the Secretary of State.

You can read the rest of the story here.