If certified, the initiative would get sent to the Legislature at the next regular session

Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington

Backers of an initiative to the Legislature requiring proof of citizenship to vote in Washington state say opponents are trying to confuse the public and spread misinformation about the measure.

Initiative Measure No. IL26-126 is sponsored by Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, the Chair of the Washington State Republican Party.

“IL26-126 does one thing: It requires proof of identity when people register to vote in Washington,” Walsh told The Center Square. “Just like when you get on an airplane. That’s it.”

Walsh was critical of a new numbering system for initiatives to the Legislature, which took effect on March 9, 2024.

According to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, the new system works like this:

When a sponsor submits the final text of a proposed Initiative to the Legislature, it receives a random three-digit number.

This number is determined by rolling three 10-sided dice.

The full identification number is eight characters long, starting with “IL,” followed by the last two digits of the year the Legislature will review the initiative, a hyphen, and the random three-digit number.

If a number has been used before, the dice are rolled again until a unique number is generated.”

“I think that the secretary of state has rejiggered its numbering standards to make initiatives harder to publicize and promote,” Walsh speculated.

The Center Square emailed the SoS to inquire about the new numbering system, but did not receive a response.

The initiative seeks to require residents to establish their status as U.S. citizens with documentation, like a passport or birth certificate. County election officials would confer with the Department of Licensing to ensure that everyone on the voter rolls was actually a citizen.

Voters who had not produced proof would be notified and given notice to provide needed documents or be taken off the list of eligible voters before the 2027 general election.

According to the SoS, to vote in Washington, people must prove they are at least 18 years old, live in the state, and be a U.S. citizen.

“Bob Ferguson and other sanctuary state supporters are lying and spreading misinformation about what IL26-126 does,” Walsh continued. “Lawlessness breeds lawlessness. We’ve had too much of that. Let’s get back to enforcing the law. IL26-126 helps with that healing.”

Walsh said IL26-126 seeks to require proof of citizenship and nothing more.

“The initiative doesn’t end vote-by-mail,” he said. “It doesn’t touch ballot processing. Just voter identification.”

While several states are considering measures to restrict or eliminate certain aspects of vote-by-mail, Walsh claims that is not his motivation for this initiative.

However, the Washington State Republican Party recently joined the regional movement to end vote-by-mail, complicating matters.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has stated that Washington has a secure and fair election system.

The conservative Heritage Foundation recently released its latest “Election Integrity Scorecard,” which examines factors such as voter identification implementation, voter list accuracy, absentee ballot management, citizenship verification and other relevant attributes.

Washington ranked 46th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C. Only Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, California and Hawaii ranked worse.

Walsh said supporters expect to start gathering signatures for the initiative in about 10 days.

To get IL26-126 on the ballot, signatures of at least 308,911 registered voters must be collected and submitted by 5 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2026.

If certified, the initiative would get sent to the Legislature at the next regular session.

Lawmakers would then have to decide between three options: adopting the initiative as proposed; rejecting or taking no action, in which case the initiative is placed on the ballot for voters to decide at the next general election; approving an alternative to the proposed initiative so that both are placed on the ballot for voters to consider at the next general election.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.