Wilson files bill to protect to signature gathers from harassment
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, December 13th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – Sen. Jeff Wilson (R-Longview) has filed a bill to protect initiative petition signature gatherers from being intimidated.
According to Wilson, the Washington State Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union set up telephone hotlines to report where signature-gathering is happening.
People opposed to the initiatives then use information from the hotlines to disrupt the signature-gathering process, which Wilson believes goes too far.
“Signature gathering and collection is something that should be protected,” he said. “That’s a process that needs to be allowed to work without interference from any means whatsoever.”
Wilson’s proposed legislation would establish a 25-foot buffer zone around signature gathering activities and interference within that zone would be prohibited.
