The Fight to Tighten the Initiative Process
A landmark legislative struggle to regulate how Washingtonians propose and recall laws and public officials.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Referendum Measure No. 3, entitled: 'An act to facilitate the operation of the provisions of section 1 of article XI of the Constitution relating to the initiative and referendum, to prevent fraud, and amending sections 4971-1, 4971-5, 4971-6, 4971-7, 4971-9, 4971-10, 4971-15, 4971-16, 4971-17, 4971-31 and 4971-32 of Remington Ballinger’s Annotated Codes and Statutes of Washington, and repealing section 4971-8 of Remington Ballinger’s Annotated Codes and Statutes of Washington, and declaring this act shall take effect January 1st, 1916.' Passed by the Legislature in March 1915 and vetoed by the Governor, the measure was subsequently passed over his veto to ensure strict oversight of petition gathering, including requirements for signers to be registered voters and establishing severe penalties for those attempting to manipulate or pay for signatures.
“Every person who shall sign any initiative or referendum petition... with any other than his true name shall be guilty of a felony.”
This legislation established the backbone of Washington’s direct democracy, reflecting a 1915 obsession with preventing political fraud. Today, as digital signature gathering and outside PAC influence dominate, the struggle over who gets to participate in our democracy remains as contentious as it was a century ago.
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