January 5 was the first day to file petitions for Initiatives to the People in Washington to start the process; 259,622 signatures are due by July 5 to qualify the initiatives for the 2019 ballot. Ballotpedia checks for new filings daily, so be sure to watch our coverage for updates. As of January 11, no Initiatives to the People had been filed.
Signatures for two Initiatives to the Legislature (the other type of citizen initiative in Washington) were submitted to qualify for consideration by the legislature and then to appear on the November 2019 ballot in Washington if the legislature does not approve them. Sponsors for each initiative submitted around 100,000 more signatures than the number of valid signatures required to qualify.
Citizens of Washington may initiate legislation as either a direct initiated state statute – called Initiative to the People (ITP) – or indirect initiated state statute – called Initiative to the Legislature (ITL). In Washington, citizens also have the power to ask voters to repeal legislation through veto referendum petitions. Citizens may not initiate constitutional amendments. The Washington State Legislature, however, may place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot with a two-thirds (66.67 percent) supermajority vote in each chamber.
Initiatives to the Legislature are considered by state legislators if enough signatures are submitted. If the legislature approves the initiative, it is enacted. If the legislature does not approve it, it goes to the voters. The deadline to submit signatures for 2019 Initiatives to the Legislature was January 4. Initiatives to the People go directly to the ballot if enough valid signatures are submitted.