Ballot Initiative

Let's get
universal healthcare
on the ballot!

We the people of Washington have the power to take back our healthcare system. It takes less than 400,000 signatures to make the ballot and give the voters something to turn out for.

We’re fortunate in Washington to have the ballot initiative process (also known as ballot measures). When our elected officials fail to act, we the people of Washington, have the power to enact our own laws. Initiatives are put on the ballot by collecting a certain number of signatures from voters and then are passed if they receive a simple majority.

What can you do now?

Currently the best ways to help us prepare for a ballot initiative campaign are to become a Whole Washington volunteer and help us gather pledges to sign our next initiative. Our Pledge to Sign campaign is an easy action anyone can take online or in person and helps Whole Washington train its signature gathering volunteers and assess readiness for a real ballot initiative.

Types of Initiatives

Washington has two types of ballot initiative processes – Initiative to the People and Initiative to the Legislature. Whole Washington has attempted to make the ballot through both and in general favors the Initiative to the Legislature for the longer signature-gathering window in better weather.

Initiative to the Legislature

  • Earliest filing: Mid March
  • Signatures due: Late December
  • Signature gathering window: Approximately 9 months
  • Ballot: The November general election of the following year

If enough valid signatures are gathered the legislature must take one of the following actions:

  1. Pass the initiative directly as proposed
  2. Place the initiative on the next statewide general election ballot uncontested
  3. Place the initiative on the next statewide general election ballot to compete with a legislature-developed alternative

Initiative to the People

  • Earliest filing: January
  • Signatures due: July
  • Signature gathering window: Approximately 6 months
  • Ballot: The November general election of the same year

If enough valid signatures are gathered the initiative goes on the next statewide general election ballot and is passed or not passed into law by a direct vote of the people.

Required number of signatures

Both forms of ballot initiative campaign require the same number of signatures calculated based on 8% the turnout for the last gubernatorial election. Based on the 2024 election Whole Washington must collect 308,912 signatures to make the ballot. Signatures must be collected from registered Washington voters with ink on paper.

Required Number of Signatures Both types of initiatives have the same required number of valid signatures based on 8% of the turnout of the most recent gubernatorial election (2024). To qualify, we must have at least 308,912 valid signatures from registered voters. With at least 25% padding to cover invalid signatures, we need to turn in 386,000 signatures!

Ready to join us? We intend to make healthcare history!

When is the next initiative campaign?

We are currently targeting the 2028 ballot and focused on building the necessary infrastructure to successfully make the ballot and win a statewide get out the vote campaign. We typically prefer an even year ballot due to the higher voter turnout. The decision to run or not is made by the Whole Washington Board of Directors and based on some of the following strategic considerations:

  • Do we have enough funding to make the ballot?
  • Are there enough trained volunteers across the state ready to gather signatures?
  • Is the backing coalition strong enough and ready to run an initiative with us?
  • Will we have the support of organized labor?
  • Which ballot should we target and when would we need to launch a campaign to make that ballot?