By David Ammons, The Associated Press
OLYMPIA – Got ideas?
Washington state initiative sponsors have plenty, dealing with everything from gay rights and illegal immigrants to fining motorists who don’t promptly merge into traffic and extending capital punishment to those who electioneer at poll sites or foul up elections.
Even the issue of whether we should have a state amphibian is up for debate.
As key deadlines approach, though, most proposals are going nowhere.
It only costs $5 to file an initiative and a flurry of 35 bright ideas are proposed for the fall statewide ballot.
Another five initiatives to the Legislature – four from the initiative factory of Tim Eyman – also are on file, and two new state laws are being challenged by referendum.
But filing is the easy, cheap part.
It takes nearly a quarter of a million voter signatures to make the ballot – and that typically means hiring signature-gatherers, costing sponsors $300,000 or more.
Sponsors are scrambling: Signature deadline is this Friday.
Referendum sponsors need fewer names and have until July 21.
Initiatives being routed through the Legislature don’t have to submit signatures before Jan. 4.
The sheer number of initiatives filed this year is misleading, since very few, and perhaps only one, are expected to make the ballot, said Secretary of State Sam Reed.
In a typical year, between three and five qualify.
“It’s so inexpensive to file an initiative and sometimes sponsors are looking for their 15 minutes of fame and not actually thinking they’ll get on the ballot,” he said.
As initiative scholar Todd Donovan puts it, “It only costs $5 to be silly.”
