Last-Minute Signatures Trigger Issaquah Anti-Bag Ban Initiative

(Ed. Note: An older version of this post incorrectly referred to the Initiative as a "referendum" which is technically incorrect. Sammamish-Issaquah Patch regrets the error.)

Opponents have forced a public vote on Issaquah's plastic bag ban and paper bag charge on retailers after enough signatures were submitted in a last-ditch effort to support an initiative to effectively end city regulation of the bags.

King County Elections Director Sherril Huff certified petition advocates Save Our Choice had submitted a total of 2,597 valid signatures on Thursday — just 48 more than the minimum number required for a special election. That number met the requirement of 2,549, or 15 percent of Issaquah's registered voters in the last election.

Save Our Choice submitted nearly 4,000 signatures in August but over 1,500 were invalidated, primarily because many were not registered voters of the city of Issaquah. King County Elections officials gave the petition organizers just 10 days to try and amend the petition with nearly 400 more signatures needed to be deemed "sufficient", or else the petition would be rejected. King County Elections approved an additional 420 signatures on Oct. 3.

The bag ban passed the City Council on June 4, 2012. Similar laws have been adopted in Seattle, Bellingham, Banbridge Island, Edmonds, Mukilteo and Shoreline. While voters have tried to repeal the laws elsewhere, the Issaquah referendum is the first in the state to get this far.

The petition calls for a public, city-wide vote on the measure, which would block the city from regulating "retail carryout bag(s)". The ban remains in effect for larger scale retailers, and is scheduled to go into effect for all stores beginning March 1, 2014.

According to state law, Issaquah City Council now has 20 days from the date of signature certification to approve the initiative or submit the measure for approval or disapproval in a special election.

The next scheduled date for a special election is Feb. 11, 2014,  according to King County Elections.