WA Supreme Court releases full decisions on challenges to ballot initiatives

(The Center Square) – The Washington Supreme Court last week released its full decisions regarding a pair of cases involving an attempt earlier this year to keep four initiatives off the ballot. The state’s highest court ultimately rejected removing the initiatives from the ballot.

This November, voters will decide on three Let’s Go Washington-sponsored initiatives that would repeal the capital gains tax, prohibit carbon tax credit trading and repeal provisions of the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, and allow people to opt out of the state’s WA Cares long-term care program. A fourth initiative, sponsored by the Business Industry Association of Washington, would prohibit state and local governments from restricting access to natural gas.

Earlier this year, the anti-initiatives organization Defend Washington filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, claiming signatures to qualify the initiatives for the ballot were gathered illegally. This would mean the measures would need to re-qualify for the ballot.

In another case, the Washington Conservation Action Defense Fund sued Hobbs in an attempt to invalidate the secretary of state’s certification of the initiative to prevent the government from restricting natural gas.

In August, the court denied requests in the two cases to keep multiple initiatives off the November ballot.

“Defend Washington argues that article II, section 1(a) of the state constitution requires the secretary to verify signers’ addresses on the theory that only those who are currently eligible to vote at their current addresses of record at the time of signing are ‘legal voters,” the court said in Defend Washington v. Hobbs. “But article II, section 1 does not require any particular signature verification procedure. Whether more thorough procedures, including checking of addresses should be required is a question for the legislature by statute or the secretary by rule.”

Based on that, the court ruled, “We hold that the secretary’s signature verification procedure did not violate the law and the trial court did not err in dismissing Defend Washington’s challenge.”

The court had a similar justification in making the same ruling in Washington Conservation Action Education Fund v. Hobbs.

BIAW Vice President Greg Lane applauded the decisions.

“I think it was a desperate attempt to keep people from having a choice on these initiatives and a voice on these issues, and they should have a say,” Lane told The Center Square on Monday.

He predicted if Initiative 2066 to stop natural gas restrictions does not pass, then homeowners and business owners will have to deal with more expensive energy bills.

“People will see an immediate increase in their utility rates, and that’s to pay for PSE’s conversion to all-electric instead of natural gas,” Lane said. “There’s a clear indication, they are going to, as legislation required, move to full electrification and cut off natural gas.”

Voters passing I-2066, on the other hand, would send a strong message to lawmakers, according to Lane.

“They overstepped and passed a policy that is not supported by the people of Washington,” he said of House Bill 1589, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee this year, that hastens Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas. “It [I-2066] would make it politically difficult for them to implement a natural gas ban moving forward.”

A Defend Washington representative says the organization accepts the decision.

“The Supreme Court decision upholding the Secretary of State’s signature validation procedures was disappointing, but we appreciate that the court has resolved the substantive questions we had raised regarding the ballot measure certification process,” Defend Washington spokesperson Sandeep Kaushik emailed The Center Square.

He concluded, “While we continue to have concerns, we accept the court’s decision that the Secretary of State’s processes conform to current Washington law. Still, we urge elected leaders in Olympia to consider the issues we brought to light in our suit.”

The general election is Nov. 5.