Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

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I-1043 won't make ballot: initiative sought crack down on unlawful immigration

• Published July 02, 2009

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Backers threw in the towel a few minutes ago on an initiative aimed at public services for illegal immigrants.

Initiative 1043 needed 241,153 signatures by today's 5 p.m. deadline for qualifying for the Nov. ballot, but it won't make that. So the group apparently is shifting gears and will push for state legislation in 2010, supporters say.

Craig Keller, chairman of the Initiative 1043 campaign called “Respect Washington,” announced the group fell short in an email to reporters this afternoon. It said, in part.

Though Respect Washington's mailbox recently overflowed with petition returns following placement of 186,000 petitions in newspapers statewide, more weeks would have been necessary to accumulate the required 241,153 signatures.

Keller said by phone he wasn't sure he had even 100,000 signatures and was not yet sure if he beat efforts last year to push a similar measure. But he said he was proud to have circulated as many petitions as he did, and he noted the limits of a $30,000 campaign budget.

I-1043 targeted It would have required employers to electronically verify the immigration status of new hires and put new limits on the provision of services to people who could not prove their citizenship status.

More detail from Keller's commentary can be found at the campaign web site, Respect Washington.