Washington Administrative Code › Title 434 - Secretary of State › Chapter 434-379 - Initiatives and referenda › Section 434-379-010 - Random sampling procedure

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
In the verification of signatures on initiative and referendum
				petitions, under
				RCW
				 29A.72.230, the following statistical test
				may be employed:
(1) Take a minimum
			 three percent random sample of the signatures submitted;
(2) Check each signature sampled to determine
			 the number of valid signatures in the sample, the number of signatures in the
			 sample which are invalid because the individual signing is not registered to
			 vote or the signature is improper in form, and the number of signatures which
			 are duplicated in the sample;
(3)
			 Calculate an allowance for the chance error of sampling by multiplying the
			 square root of the number of invalid signatures in the sample by 1.5;
(4) Estimate the upper limit of the number of
			 signatures in the population which are invalid by dividing the sum of the
			 invalid signatures in the sample and the allowance for the chance error of
			 sampling by the sampling ratio, i.e., the number of signatures sampled divided
			 by the number of signatures submitted;
(5) Determine the maximum allowable number of
			 pairs of signatures in the population by subtracting the sum of the number of
			 signatures required by Article II, Section 1 of the Washington state
			 Constitution and the estimate of the upper limit of the number of invalid
			 signatures in the population from the number of signatures submitted;
(6) Determine the expected number of pairs of
			 signatures in the sample by multiplying the square of the sampling ratio by the
			 maximum allowable number of pairs of signatures in the population;
(7) Determine the acceptable number of pairs
			 of signatures in the sample by subtracting 1.65 times the square root of the
			 expected number of pairs of signatures in the sample from the expected number
			 of pairs of signatures in the sample;
(8) If the number of pairs of signatures in
			 the sample is greater than the acceptable number of pairs of signatures in the
			 sample, each signature shall be canvassed to determine the exact number of
			 valid signatures;
(9) If the number
			 of pairs of signatures in the sample is less than the acceptable number of
			 pairs of signatures in the sample, the petition shall be deemed to contain
			 sufficient signatures and the serial number and ballot title shall be certified
			 to the state legislature as provided in
			 RCW
			  29A.72.230 or to the county auditors as
			 provided in
			 RCW
			  29A.72.250.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				   29A.04.611 and
				  43.07.120. 05-12-116, §
				  434-379-010, filed 5/31/05, effective 7/1/05. Statutory Authority: RCW
				   29A.04.610. 04-15-089, § 434-379-010, filed 7/16/04, effective 8/16/04.
				  Statutory Authority: RCW  29.04.080, 29.04.210, 29.36.150 and 29.79.200.
				  97-21-045, recodified as § 434-379-010, filed 10/13/97, effective
				  11/13/97. Statutory Authority: RCW  29.79.200 and 29.04.080. 97-17-035, §
				  434-79-010, filed 8/13/97, effective 9/13/97. Statutory Authority: RCW
				   29.79.200. 78-08-032 (Order 78-2), § 434-79-010, filed
				  7/17/78.