Tim Eyman’s I-985, which would make the state spend some sales tax from car sales to reduce congestion, is first on the list. A crew of 21 workers in Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office plans to check a random sample of about 3 percent, or 10,000, of the roughly 300,000 signatures that Eyman’s people turned in.

It takes 224,880 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

State elections spokesman David Ammons said it may take up to three weeks to verify the sampling of signatures on I-985.

Next on the list for signature checks is I-1000, the measure promoted by former Gov. Booth Gardner to let doctors write lethal prescriptions for terminally ill people who want to kill themselves.

Last on the list is I-1029, which would require home care workers to have at least 75 hours of training, much of which would be paid for by the state. That measure is being promoted by the Service Employees International Union Local 775, which represents more than 30,000 such workers.

Supporters of both I-1000 and I-1029 say they also turned in about 300,000 signatures on their respective petitions.

Opponents of I-1029 have asked Reed’s office to reject the petitions because they were improperly worded. The petitions say the measure is an initiative to the Legislature, which means it would not be presented to lawmakers until January 2009. Then, it could be enacted by the Legislature as is, or it could be placed on the November 2009 ballot for a public vote.

Proponents of I-1029 say they intended the measure to be an initiative to the people, which means it would appear on the ballot this fall.

Reed’s office already has accepted the petitions and plans to count and verify signatures. An opinion by the attorney general’s office, issued Monday, backed up that action. That means the coalition that is opposed to I-1029 would have to go to court to try to stop the measure from getting on the ballot.

Historically, however, judges tend to wait until after the public votes on initiatives, rather than sidetrack them before the vote. If voters turn them down, the issue then becomes moot.

Joseph Turner: 360-786-1826

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