Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-08-18
TO CURE ABUSES IN
THE INITIATIVE LAW
Supreme Court Called Attention
Of Legislature to Necessity
For Action.
BY GUY e. KELLY

chairman, House Committee on Privi-
leges and Elections-1915 Session.)
Under the constitution only le3a!
voters are permitted to initiate legis-
lation or to demand the referendum.
The Washington legislature OF 1913
found it was conceded that in those
states where the practice prevailed Of
employing paid circulators of petitions
that 1t resulted in gross fraud. To pre-
vent this fraud, the legislature pro-
hibited circulators Of petitions from
receiving pay therefor, and provided
that all signatures signed in registra-
ton precincts should be compared
with the signatures upon the regis
tration books, and in non-registration
precincts should be certified by some
official residing in the precinct and
acquainted with the voters thereof.
When the initiative petitions Of 1914
were presented to the secretary Of
state for counting, 1t was found that
there were thousands Of forged and
fraudulent signatures upon them
which had been certified to be the
signatures of legal voters.
This fact was admitted in court by
the attorneys for the measure, but
they contended that since the names
were certified they must be counted,
and five Of the nine supreme court
judges held that under the act Of 1918,
although the signatures were fraudu-
lent, they must be counted, If certi-
fled. Three of the supreme court
judges filed dissenting opinions,
ten my opinion Of the proceedings at
tending the preparation and filing of
the petitions in these cases so that
| when the legislature is convened it
will show that 1t has been judicially
held that certified fraud is legal fraud;
that its former act has no gates to
shut out frauds and forgeries and that
it undertook to build around the con-
stitutional amendment permitting and
encouraging direct legislation is a
house of cards."
To remedy this defect in the law
the 1915 legislature passed the bill
which is now submitted to the people
as Referendum Measure No. 8, which
amends the act Of 1913, and provides
that all initiative and referendum pc
titions must be filed with the registra-
ton officers Of the various precincts,
and that before any persons shall be
! permitted to sign such petition it must
| be determined that he or she is in fact
legal voter. The bill provides that
whenever any initiative or referendum
petition is filed in a registration sof-
flee for signing. the office must be
kept open, not only during the ordin-
airy office hours, but also ON each Fri
day and Saturday evening from six
until nine o'clock, and that whenever
the registration books OF any city are
| sent out to the precinct such petitions
as are on file must accompany the
books TN order that all legal voters
may have an opportunity to sign the
same, II they so desire, in their home
precincts. This provision was insert
ed in the bill at the suggestion of rep
| resentatives of the working classes
for their convenience.
The initiative and referendum has
| become, and will remain, part of
| our system of popular government,
and opportunities for fraud should mot