The Gist
Home

Ballot question

City of Everett Proposition 264: initiative and referendum signature rules

On the ballot in
City of Everett
Vote
Yes or no
Election
Nov 3, 2026

The question, as printed on the ballot

City of Everett Proposition No. 264 Amendment to Four Sections of the Everett City Charter The amendment to Sections 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 and 11.5 would require an initiative or referendum petition be signed by qualified electors in a number equal to ten percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding Mayoral election; would allow for 10 days to correct faulty signatures; would streamline the initiative process; and would require the City to prepare a Fiscal Analysis of the measure that would be made available to voters. Should these amendments to the Everett City Charter be enacted into law?

A “Yes” vote means

Initiative and referendum petitions would need signatures equal to 10% of votes in the last mayoral election; sponsors would get 10 days to fix invalid signatures.

A “No” vote means

The charter's current initiative and referendum signature and filing rules would stay as they are.

Official plain English statement

The City of Everett's Charter requires the City to have a Charter Review Committee to review the City Charter every 10 years to make recommendations to the City Council for proposed amendments. The Council can adopt those suggestions or modify those suggestions and have then proposed amendments placed on the ballot or reject the Committee's suggestions. Proposition 264 would make several substantive changes recommended by the Committee as modified by the Council related to initiatives and referenda. First, would change the threshold for initiatives to require an initiative sponsor to obtain signatures equal to 10 percent of the votes in the last mayoral election before the initiative would qualify for the ballot. Second, it would allow a sponsor 10 days to correct and resubmit any signatures deemed invalid. Third, it would require the current 10 percent signature requirement for referenda to be 10 percent of the votes cast in the last mayoral election.

Sources

The question and plain English statement are copied word for word from official election materials. The Gist does not take a side on ballot questions.