Eyman says I-985 on verge of signature mark

Tim Eyman, the chief sponsor of the Initiative 985 that would require the implementation of certain traffic congestion reduction measures recommended by State Auditor Brian Sonntag, announced today that the campaign is on the cusp of the 225,000 signatures required to gain access to the ballot in November.

"Here's the scoop -- today in Spokane, Mike [Fagan] and Jack [Fagan] will process all I-985 petitions and voter signatures that came in to our PO Box last week from both our volunteers and our paid folks," Eyman said in an e-mail to supporters and press. "Based on their cursory analysis over the weekend, they're certain we'll hit the minimum threshold of signatures -- roughly 224,880 -- and so we've made an appointment with the Secretary of State this Thursday.

But we need much more voter signatures than just the minimum.  Based on the signature turn-ins in 2005, 2006, and 2007, we can predict that roughly 18% of the voter signatures won't perfectly match the ones the voters
submitted on their original voter registration card.  So we need to turn-in a bunch of extra voter signatures -- a cushion -- to ensure we qualify I-985 for the ballot.  That means we need to reach 275,000 (preferably more) voter
signatures before the July 3 deadline."