WA Senate Democrats propose stricter regulations for ballot measure initiatives

In response to recent legal challenges and a surge of Republican-backed initiatives, Washington Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to tighten regulations on the state’s initiative and referendum processes.

Senate Bill 5382 (SB 5382) would require individuals collecting petition signatures to sign a declaration on each petition sheet that affirms, under penalty of false swearing, the following:

• Each petitioner signed the sheet provided accurate information.
• The petitioner was eligible to sign and reviewed the sheet.
• The petitioner was not compensated or promised compensation or gratuity for signing.

In addition, the bill requires those people signing the petition to provide their address along with a date, time and signature and the correct spelling of their name as it appears on their signature card registered with their county’s election office.

It also mandates that signature gatherers affirm that signers have reviewed the petition sheet and have not received any gratuity or promise thereof.

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The legislation also creates added work for the secretary of state to verify addresses on the petition match the address on the voter’s registration card. Signatures would be rejected if:

• The addresses do not match
• The petition lacks a residence address
• Required information is missing from the petition

But the bill specifies that minor discrepancies, such as incomplete or inaccurate apartment numbers, should not lead to invalidation of a signature.

The secretary of state may continue to use statistical sampling techniques for signature verification.

Washington initiatives background and this legislative intent

The impetus for SB 5382 stems from the Washington Supreme Court’s decision in Defend Washington v. Hobbs. In the 2024 case, the court concluded the secretary of state is not required to verify the addresses of registered voters who have signed initiative and referendum petitions, as this is neither a constitutional nor statutory requirement. (A PDF of the “slip opinion” in this case can be viewed here.)

The court suggested that any changes to this procedure should be enacted by the Washington State Legislature or through administrative rulemaking.

SB 5382 is an attempt to address the courts suggestion.

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The 2024 election cycle saw an influx of Republican-backed initiatives, some of which were met with disapproval from Democratic lawmakers.

For instance, measures targeting the capital gains tax, air pollution emissions (the Climate Commitment Act) and long-term care services were among those that advanced to the November ballot.

Democrats fear a potential rollback of progressive policies.

SB 5382 had its first public hearing Tuesday.

Matt Markovich often covers the state legislature and public policy for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow him on X, or email him here.

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