The Washington Secretary of State’s Office informed Let’s Go Washington (LGW) on Friday that Initiative IL26-638, the measure aimed at keeping biological boys out of girls’ sports, has officially met the threshold of verified signatures required to be sent to the legislature.
According to LGW, the initiative cleared verification with an 86 percent validity rate, a figure the organization says directly undermines claims that signature gathering efforts are riddled with fraud or abuse. The news comes amid growing political tension in Olympia over both the substance of the initiative and the future of Washington’s citizen initiative process itself.
In a statement responding to the Secretary of State’s announcement, LGW founder Brian Heywood praised the young women who spoke publicly in support of the measure, many of whom, he said, did so at personal cost.
“To all the young women who stood up and spoke out about biological boys taking your places on your teams and invading your safe spaces: thank you,” Heywood said. “Thank you for your bravery in the face of harassment, bullying, attacks, and threats of lawsuits.”
Heywood said the verification results validate LGW’s organizing model and directly rebut criticism from Democratic leadership. “Our solid 86% validity rate categorically proves that this system of signature gathering works and upholds the integrity of the process,” he said. “No matter how hard Speaker Jinkins and Senator Pedersen work to suppress voters, we’ll be here, pushing right back. Sorry to disappoint, Pie Crust Pedersen, we’ll see you on the ballot.”
The certification of IL26-638 follows weeks of public comments from legislative leaders signaling resistance to voter-driven initiatives. Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen previously suggested in a TVW appearance that he had reason to believe Let’s Go Washington may not have submitted enough valid signatures—comments LGW strongly disputes, citing its internal verification procedures and now the Secretary of State’s confirmation.
House Speaker Laurie Jinkins also claimed that the legislature is not obligated to act on initiatives sent to it. In recent remarks, Jinkins noted that more than half of the initiatives to the legislature over the past 35 years never received hearings. She argued that the state constitution “anticipates the legislature taking no action,” allowing initiatives to proceed directly to the ballot if lawmakers decline to engage.
If the legislature does not act on IL26-638 during the current session, the initiative will automatically be certified for the November general election at the end of the session on March 12.
The timing of the Secretary of State’s announcement is particularly notable given recent hearings on three bills—SB 5973, HB 2259, and HB 2260—that critics have labeled “initiative killer bills.” The proposed legislation would significantly reshape Washington’s initiative process by imposing new timelines, early signature thresholds, financial penalties, and even potential jail time for signature gatherers who make minor errors. LGW argues the changes would make grassroots initiatives functionally impossible for citizen-led campaigns without massive financial backing.
Public testimony on the bills featured members of the Washington Education Association (WEA), SEIU, and public school teachers speaking in favor of the changes, claiming the bills were necessary to curb fraud in the initiative process. However, the Secretary of State’s Office has repeatedly stated that fraud is minimal, if it exists at all, in Washington’s initiative system. Notably, the only documented case of signature fraud in recent years involved an SEIU hourly signature gatherer who falsified 19 signatures, a fact LGW supporters say was conspicuously absent from testimony supporting the legislation.
Critics of the initiative process have also attacked the use of pay-per-signature models, claiming they incentivize quantity over accuracy. LGW counters that IL26-638’s 86 percent validity rate, the highest the organization has achieved across its campaigns, proves the opposite. According to LGW, the results show that professional signature gathering, when properly managed, is both efficient and highly accurate.
Let’s Go Washington is still awaiting final verification from the Secretary of State on its second initiative, IL26-001, which focuses on strengthening communication and transparency between parents and schools.
