Article by Erik Smith. Published on Thursday, July 18, 2010 EST.

I-1082 Makes Ballot – SEIU Issues Statement

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, July 15.—A high-earner income tax plan is headed for the ballot, state elections officials said Thursday after a random check of signatures showed backers had turned in more than enough signatures to qualify for a vote.

            The decision comes despite a finding by state elections officials that at least one volunteer signature gatherer may have committed fraud. The office has formally notified the Washington State Patrol of its conclusions and is continuing its own investigation. Initiative signature fraud is a Class C felony punishable by prison time. On Thursday, Service Employees International Union president Adam Glickman confirmed that the volunteer has worked as an organizer for the union. The union is the ballot measure’s leading financial backer.

            The 350 questioned signatures are written in the same hand and with the same pen, using phony addresses and a scrawl that doesn’t match those in voting records, state elections officials say. But they are a blip amid the 385,000 signatures that the campaign turned in, and the elections office says enough of them sailed through the signature check unchallenged that the measure qualifies. All initiative campaigns needed to turn in at least 241,000 signatures in order to make the ballot.

            State elections officials said their 3 percent random check gave I-1098 an error rate of 18.15 percent, in line with the average.

            I-1098 would impose an income tax on those making more than $200,000.

            SEIU Issues Statement

            In a statement Thursday, Glickman said:

            “While this is clearly an isolated incident involving one of the hundreds of members who collected signatures on this campaign, we are taking this very seriously and are very concerned about it. Like the I-1098 campaign we have zero tolerance for unethical or illegal activity among our membership. We’ll be cooperating fully with the Secretary of State and other officials, and we’ll be conducting our own internal investigation. If we find that a member acted inappropriately or used union money inappropriately we will take aggressive steps to address that, including trying to recoup that money and revoking their membership if necessary.”

            Three Down, Three to Go

            I-1082 is the third of six measures to qualify this year. Earlier state elections officials certified I-1100, a retailer-backed liquor-store privatization measure, and I-1082, a measure that would allow private competition for the workers’ compensation business.

            Next up is I-1053, a measure backed by initiative promoter Tim Eyman and business interests that would require a two-thirds vote of the state Legislature or a vote of the people before taxes can be increased.

            Still to come are I-1105, a distributor-backed liquor-store privatization measure, and I-1107, a measure that would roll back taxes on soda pop, candy, gum and bottled water. 

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