CRITICAL: help me save the initiative process from its’ destruction from Senate Bill 5382. Register “con” and join me @ Tues, 1:30pm hearing.

Mon, Feb 3, 2025

To: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state
(cc’d to the media, house & senate members, and Governor, and other candidates for office)

From: Tim Eyman
Fighting for taxpayers for 28 years

For over 110 years, the Secretary of State has had a singular focus when it comes to signature verification for voter signatures turned in to qualify a ballot measure:

Make an objective determination that the voter’s signature on the petition is from a registered voter in WA and if so, that the signature on the petition matches the one on file.

In other words, is it a valid voter signature or not?

But this year, the Democrats are pushing Senate Bill 5382 that adds a massive burden to the signature collection process that is totally unneeded and unjustified.

Senate Bill 5382 – Sponsored by Sen. Javier Valdez (D-Seattle) – Citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights BY SIGNING an initiative petition MUST have their perfectly valid signature REJECTED by the Secretary of State if the person who gathered their signature forgets to fill out the back of the petition. 

This bill says that the Secretary of State MUST reject petitions, and thus REJECT valid signatures of interested voters, based on whether the person gathering the signatures publicly identifies himself/herself on the back. 

And what a tremendous burden it would be: SB 5382 requires the circulator to identify themselves and handwrite on EACH PETITION SHEET the date, their name, address, city, state, zip code, and affix their signature and they must swear under penalty of perjury that EVERY PERSON who signed that petition sheet is a valid voter (which is of course unknowable).

Sponsors of SB 5382 claim they just want to find the people collecting ‘bad’ signatures. 

But that’s not happening – from 1999 through 2009, 36 ballot measures submitted 10,516,645 voter signatures to the Secretary of State. 

In response to a public records request, their office confirmed that they have “no instances of verified forgeries or fraud in the signature gathering process for statewide measures during those years.” 

More recently, from 2016 through 2024, 21 ballot measures submitted 7,546,212 signatures and there wasn’t a single instance of verified forgeries or fraud (according to recent response from the Secretary of State’s office, in 2016, some liberal initiative campaigns turned in some petition sheets — out of 89,315 — that seemed to include some questionable signatures — none were verified as ‘bad’ — but even so, none of them were counted anyway).

This bill is unnecessary. It’s a solution in search of a problem.

Under current law, the Secretary of State rejects a voter’s signature on a petition if it doesn’t exactly match the signature on the voter’s registration — valid voter signatures count, ‘non-matched’ voter signatures don’t. Under this proposed change, PERFECTLY VALID voter signatures WILL BE REJECTED also. 

Under SB 5382, the Secretary of State’s top priority will be to take petitions filled with valid signatures AND THROW THEM IN THE GARBAGE.

Asking circulators — especially unpaid volunteers — to handwrite all their personal information on each and every petition sheet is a tremendous burden. And there’s no evidence in WA state that such a tremendous burden is justified.

SB 5382 will RADICALLY increase the cost to qualify an initiative for the ballot. Something that is already incredibly costly and difficult.

PLEASE HELP ME STOP THIS ANTI-INITIATIVE BILL BY DOING THESE 2 THINGS:

1) Sign in “CON” on SB 5382.

It’ll only take you 30 seconds:

Click here and register your opposition.

2) Join me and testify against it in-person (or do so remotely):

Click here to sign up to testify.

I’ll be in Olympia at tomorrow’s 1:30pm hearing – I urge you join me. It’s being heard in the Cherberg Building.

Thank you for helping me fight this critical battle to save the initiative process from its’ destruction from Senate Bill 5382.

For 28 years, I’ve been fighting for the people of our state and our nation. 

Here’s THE ONLY REASON why Bob Ferguson is trying so hard to impose a lifetime ban on all my future political activity:

I urge you to help me fight back against his abuse of power by donating to the Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund so Richard Sanders can get the AG’s ridiculously unconstitutional ruling.

Mail your check to: 
Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund
17404 Meridian Ave E #F PMB 176
Puyallup, WA, 98375

Or donate online:
By GiveSendGo (credit/debit card)
By Paypal (donate a credit/debit card)

The only reason I’m still here and I’m still fighting is because of the prayers, love, and support of wonderful friends like you who’ve seen this gross injustice and are willing to help.

I love you all.

Onward!

Tim 

You can call or text me anytime: 509-991-5295

You can email me anytime: Tim@TimDefense.com

For more details, go to: TimDefense.com

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