Amidst evidence of signature gatherers being harassed, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown is offering his support to prosecute those trying to interfere with the initiative and referendum process. This is a refreshing and much-needed defense of the people’s sacred constitutional rights and the rule of law.
This comes after the most recent incident on June 9th when a man stole a sheet of signatures and drove off in his truck as signature gatherers for an initiative congregated outside of a Safeway in South Hill. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. There has been an ongoing problem, as there were arrests in 2025 for similar abuses. There have been continued reports of threats, harassment, and tearing up and stealing signature sheets.
As Attorney General Brown says in a letter to the 39 county prosecutors and more than 250 municipal attorneys:
“The people’s right to legislate is a foundational piece of our governmental structure and political culture. Washington was one of the first states in the country to enshrine in our Constitution the initiative and referenda processes, which secure our citizens’ right to propose new laws and vote on whether to approve or reject laws enacted by the Legislature. For over 100 years, Washingtonians have been able to propose initiatives and referenda by gathering sufficient signatures of registered voters to place these measures on the ballot in a general election.”
The Attorney General is right that the initiative process has a rich tradition in American and Western thought. It finds its origins in the ideals of democracy and a government for the people, by the people. South Dakota was the first state to adopt the process of initiative and referendum in 1898, and later Oregon was the first to implement it fully and ultimately became the national model. In 1912, Washington established the initiative and referendum through the 7th amendment of its state constitution.
Instead of waiting for lawmakers to pass a bill, citizens can utilize initiatives by writing a proposed law and collecting the proper number of signatures so that voters can directly vote on the matter, bypassing the legislature.
This should be an action that is revered and taken seriously, and individuals trying to interfere with the process should be held accountable.
The organization Let’s Go Washington has been active in collecting signatures for multiple initiatives. For Washington State, an initiative needs to have signatures equal to at least 8% of the latest gubernatorial election turnout. So, for 2026, that would be 308,911 valid signatures.
Currently, Let’s Go Washington is trying to reach the threshold before July 2nd, the cutoff date to submit signatures to the Secretary of State, for an initiative that seeks to repeal the new income tax.
