Another victory for voting justice, just in time for July Fourth: Jim Walsh's IP26-500 voter elimination scheme fails to

qualify

For the second time in twelve months, Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh has failed to qualify a sinister voter elimination scheme to the statewide ballot, an important development that is going unnoticed amidst Brian Heywood’s submission of signatures for IP26-645, a measure that seeks to repeal the recently enacted million-dollar earners tax that will generate billions for education, healthcare, human services, and tax fairness beginning in 2029 if it survives being challenged.

Walsh was unsuccessful in gathering enough signatures to force a statewide vote on IP26-500, a measure he filed in February that he billed as “proof of citizenship for voting” but which actually was an attempt to carry out a mass purge of the voter rolls.

Walsh used the Washington State Republican Party’s infrastructure to hawk the measure, even creating a subdomain, initiatives.wagop.org, to house promotional materials and direct people to signing opportunities. But without the big money that IP26-645 and its brethren enjoyed, Walsh was unable to procure the signatures he needed.

The Secretary of State’s office confirmed to NPI yesterday that only one appointment was made by a campaign to turn in signatures ahead of the July 2nd 5 PM due date, and that was for 645, spearheaded by Heywood. Walsh was actually there for the turn-in at the Elections Annex, although he did not speak as part of Heywood’s program.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/07/another-victory-for-voting-justice-just-in-time-for-july-fourth-jim-walshs-ip26-500-voter-elimination-scheme-fails-to-qualify.html