Initiative 912 qualifies for ballot

As expected, Initiative 912 has qualified for the ballot. The Secretary of State made the announcement today. Washington Defense continues to organize and mobilize to fight the campaign to defeat the initiative.

The Secretary of State's press release:

According to elections officials, a check of petition signatures submitted in support of the proposal has shown that the measure meets constitutional requirements for a minimum of 224,880 valid voter signatures. The measure will appear on the November 8 General Election ballot.

Initiative 912 would repeal motor vehicle fuel tax increases of 3 cents in 2005 and 2006, 2 cents in 2007, and 1.5 cents per gallon in 2008, enacted in 2005 for transportation purposes. The official ballot summary on Initiative 912 reads, “This measure would repeal a motor vehicle fuel tax rate increase enacted by the 2005 session of the Legislature for state-wide transportation purposes. The 2005 enactment provides that the motor vehicle fuel tax rate would increase by three cents per gallon in July, 2005, by three cents per gallon more in 2006, by two cents per gallon more in 2007, and by one and one-half cents per gallon more in 2008.”

Sponsors of Initiative 912 submitted a total of 400,996 petition signatures to the Secretary of State. Election officials conducted a random sample of 12,224 signatures, of which 10,615 were valid signatures – 1,609 were determined invalid. Signatures are invalid if the signer is not a registered voter or if he or she signed more than once.

The petition was checked using the “random sample” process authorized by state law. Under the process, a statistically valid percentage of the signatures are selected at random and checked against voter registration records. A mathematical formula is then applied to the results to obtain a projected rate of invalidation.

Election officials examined 12,224 signatures (a 3 percent sample) on Initiative 912. From that inspection, it was determined that the measure had an invalidation rate of 13.94 percent.

To learn more about fighting I-912, visit Washington Defense