Attacking initiatives

Two bills in the Legislature would require a signature gatherer to sign each petition with a name and address. They are represented as good-government bills, but really they are another attack on the people's right of initiative and referendum.

They do this by making the validity of the voter's signature depend upon the signature-gatherer's signature. If the signature gatherer did not sign and disclose his address, House Bill 2019, sponsored by Joe McDermott, D-West Seattle, would allow the secretary of state to throw out all the signatures on that petition. Senate Bill 5182, sponsored by Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, would instruct the secretary to throw them out.

"Allow" is worse because it creates political discretion, but neither is acceptable. On this matter, Tim Eyman and the American Civil Liberties Union are on the same side, as are we: All valid signatures should count.

There also is another reason, which came out in the testimony in Olympia: to protect the signature gatherers.

One of them, Jaye Anderson, testified about what it's like. She said, "I've been spat on. I've had French fries thrown at me. I've had people following me to my car." There are, she said, "a lot of weirdos out there."

Like many signature gatherers, she is in her 60s, and not physically imposing. She has reason not to put her home address on the petitions, which are public documents.

The other bills offered this year to regulate (and really to discourage) citizen initiatives have been aimed at paid signature gatherers.

These two are aimed more at volunteers, who are more likely to overlook a bureaucratic requirement or be intimidated by it.

There is no justification for such intimidation, nor for throwing valid voter signatures into the wastebasket.