As noted earlier, on September 9 a Washington state Superior Court ruled that initiative and referendum petitions need not bear the signatures of the circulator. Also, voters may sign such petitions even if they are not registered, and their signatures will be counted if they are registered by the time the Secretary of State’s office checks the signatures. The 30-page decision in this case, Washington Families Standing Together v Reed, is now available here. Thanks to Katie Blinn of the Secretary of State’s office for this link. The ruling was issued orally so the link is to the transcript of the judge’s oral decision.

The basis for the ruling that signers need not be registered when they sign the petition, as long as they are registered by the time the petitions are checked, is that the law does not require signers to date their signatures. Thus, practically speaking, the Secretary of State can’t know exactly when any particular individual signed the petition, so it is impossible to know if the signer was registered before signing, or shortly afterwards.