Supporters of an initiative to inject millions of dollars to Idaho schools said they have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Reclaim Idaho gathered nearly 97,000 signatures by the April 29 deadline, which now have to be verified by county clerks and then the Secretary of State. The group expects between 25% through 30% of signatures will be declared invalid during verification.
“[Signers] might not be registered to vote, they might have written their name down not quite legibly, they might have written down a different address than the address where they’re registered,” said Luke Mayville, co-founder and director of Reclaim Idaho. “There are a number of reasons why someone’s signature can be counted as invalid.”
He said the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and a new law greatly increasing signature requirements to get initiatives to statewide ballots created a big challenge. The new law was struck down by Idaho's Supreme Court last August.
Nearly 65,000 verified signatures are required to get the initiative on the ballot, according to the Idaho Secretary of State. Petitioners also need to get signatures from at least 6% of registered voters in at least 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.
Mayville said Reclaim Idaho received enough signatures to qualify 20 legislative districts - two more than the minimum. About 20,000 people signed the petition during April, he added.
The Quality Education Act would add an additional $323 million annually to schools by adding a 4.5% tax on Idaho taxpayers' income above $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers), and by returning the state’s corporate tax rate to 8%. In February, Governor Little signed a bill that lowered the corporate tax rate to 6%.
Mayville said the response to the proposed initiative was universally positive across the state. Reclaim Idaho will launch an education campaign leading into Election Day.
“We strongly believe that if we can inform the voters of Idaho about what this issue is and the positive impact it can have on their communities, we will win in November,” he said.
The Secretary of State should announce verification results sometime in July. Mayville said he expects the Quality Education Act will appear on the ballot as ‘Proposition 1.’
