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Washington Prayer in Public Schools Initiative (2023)
| Washington Prayer in Public Schools Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 7, 2023 | |
| Topic Religion and Education | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Washington Prayer in Public Schools Initiative was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature, a type of indirect initiated state statute, on November 7, 2023.
This initiative would have required public schools to enforce the daily recitation of a prayer before the Pledge of Allegiance and at school assemblies.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Initiative Measure No. 1458 concerns prayer in public schools.
This measure would require every public school district to cause a specific prayer to be recited before the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the school day and at all school assemblies. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ] [2] |
” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for the initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | This measure would require every public school district to cause a specific prayer to be recited before the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the school day and at all school assemblies. The prayer would read: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.” | ” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirectly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the Legislature in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for indirect initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the regular session at which their proposal would be presented to lawmakers. Signatures must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the beginning of the legislative session in the year of the targeted election.
The requirements to get an Initiative to the Legislature certified for the 2023 ballot:
- Signatures: 324,516 valid signatures
- Deadline: December 30, 2022
The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified to appear before the legislature. If the legislature does not approve the measure, it is certified to appear on the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.
Details about this initiative
- The initiative was filed on March 10, 2022. Ballot language was issued for it on March 28, 2022. The initiative was sponsored by Michelle Andres, Cathryn Welker, Diana Soper, Mark Liptrap, Jaime Contreras, Tom Welker, and Shahna Airoldi.[1]
- Signatures for the initiative were not submitted before the deadline.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Washington Olympia (capital) |
|---|---|
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