Facts: Petitioner Community Care Coalition of Washington petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for an emergency injunction barring respondent Secretary of State Sam Reed from certifying petitions submitted in support of Initiative 1029 (which would have enhanced training and certification procedures for long-term care workers) being placed on the November 2008 general election ballot, asserting that although the initiative had been intended as an initiative to the people and processed by the secretary of state’s office as such, the petition forms failed to comply with the requirements of Washington Revised Code §29A.72.120 insofar as they contained contradictory language suggesting the initiative was both an initiative to the people and an initiative to the legislature.

Question(s): Did Secretary of State Reed exceed the limits of his discretion by certifying Initiative 1029 as an initiative to the people despite its failure to comply with the requirements of §29A.72.120?

Conclusion: Chief Justice Alexander’s opinion for the Court rejected Community Care Coalition of Washington’s request for an emergency injunction, ruling that Reed’s decision to give effect to the clear intent of the initiative’s sponsors and the likely intent of most of its signatories and to deem the petition forms to be in substantial compliance with statutory requirements for an initiative to the people was not arbitrary and capricious and had a reasoned basis.

Docket No. 81857-6 (from Original Case No. Action)

Briefs:

Argument: Thursday, September 4, 2008 1:30pm

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Vote: 6-3

Citation: Pending

Alexander
(Majority)

Johnson

Madsen

Sanders

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst
(Dissent)

Johnson

Stephens