"Hey, buddy, can you sign this petition?"

If you’ve been to a Costco, a Wal-Mart or some other large store in recent weeks, you may have been asked that question. With so many initiatives filed this year (a record 79), and a number of initiative campaigns planning to turn in signatures by the July 2 deadline, people are seeing lots of signature gatherers in front of stores and other locations encouraging folks to sign their petitions sheets. As has been the case in previous years, we’re hearing that most signature gatherers are courteous, but some have prompted people to contact our Elections Division to complain about their behavior. Most gripes have been about a handful of gatherers giving misleading info about a measure’s content, and a few about blocking a store entrance. While we understand the frustration and anger that a few sig gatherers might cause, the Elections Division and the Secretary of State don’t have any means to control them. There are state laws on the wording of petition sheets, and where signature gatherers may be located, but there is no state elections law that deals with their behavior. So if you’ve had a bad experience with a signature gatherer, your best course of action is to contact that particular initiative campaign and complain to them. Our Elections Division has contact information for all of the initiative campaigns. Some of the main initiative campaigns include: I-1053 (Tim Eyman’s revival of I-960); I-1082 (industrial insurance, sponsored by BIAW); I-1098 (imposing income tax on richer people, backed by Bill Gates Sr.); I-1100 (privatizing liquor sales, backed by retailers); I-1105 (liquor privatization, backed by wholesalers); and I-1107 (repealing recent tax increases on certain foods and beverages, backed by American Beverage Association). For more info about these and other initiatives filed this year, go here .