Washington Term Limits for Local Officials Initiative (2018)

Washington Term Limits for Local Officials
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Term limits
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Washington measuresWashington Initiative 940Washington Initiative 1631Washington Initiative 1634Washington Initiative 1639Washington Advisory Vote 19Submit

The Washington Term Limits for Local Officials Initiative (#1607, 1619) was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 6, 2018.

This initiative was designed to enact term limits for local officials limiting service to two four-year terms for county officials, city mayors, and city council members.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot titles for the different versions of the initiative are below:

Initiative 1607 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1607 concerns term limits for city and county elected officials. This measure would prohibit county councilmembers, county executives, city councilmembers, and mayors from serving for more than two four-year terms in the same position, including service before the measure’s effective date. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Initiative 1619 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1619 concerns term limits for city and county elected officials. This measure would prohibit county councilmembers, county executives, city councilmembers, and mayors from serving for more than two four-year terms in the same position. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Ballot summary

The ballot summaries for the different versions of the initiative are below:

Initiative 1607 ballot summary

This measure would prohibit county councilmembers, county executives, city councilmembers, and mayors from serving for more than two four-year terms in the same position. Service prior to the effective date of the measure counts as part of any official’s two terms, but any elected official currently serving a term beyond the two four-year limit may remain in office until the term is completed. Establishing residency in an alternate district does not circumvent the restrictions.

Initiative 1619 ballot summary
This measure would prohibit county councilmembers, county executives, city councilmembers, and mayors from serving for more than two four-year terms in the same position. Any elected official currently serving a term beyond the two four-year limit may remain in office until the term is completed. Establishing residency in an alternate district does not circumvent the restrictions.

Full text

• The full text of version #1607 is available here.
• The full text of version #1619 is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify a directly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the People 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 direct initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the general election at which their proposal would be presented to voters. Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the general election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the People certified for the 2018 ballot:

• Signatures: 259,622 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 6, 2018.

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 for 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

• Tim Eyman submitted version #1607 of this initiative on February 12, 2018.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for version #1607 on February 20, 2018.
• Tim Eyman submitted version #1619 of this initiative on February 26, 2018.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for version #1619 on March 6, 2018.
• Proponents of the initiative did not submit signatures to the secretary of state's office by the July 6, 2018, deadline and the measure was not put on the ballot.

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Term limits on the ballot
• 2018 petition deadlines

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Initiative #1607 Full Text
• Initiative #1619 Full Text