Voters in Washington state have overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have expanded the rights of initiative signature gatherers.
With more than 950,000 ballots counted, about 60 percent of voters were rejecting Initiative 517 Tuesday night. Because of the state's vote-by mail system, counties will be updating their numbers daily throughout the week.
The measure would have required that voters be allowed to have their say on any proposal that qualifies for the ballot, even if a lawsuit has been filed against it. The initiative also would have given supporters a year, instead of the current six months, to collect signatures, and it would have made it a misdemeanor to interfere with the signature-gathering process.
