It's "the most significant challenge to democracy I've seen in my lifetime."

IL26-126, an initiative to the Legislature, is described on petitions as regarding “heightened voter registration requirements for applicants and currently registered voters.”

But Cynthia Stewart, LWVWA first vice president and Advocacy chair, calls IL26-126 an effort “to promote the lie that noncitizens are voting.”

Which is why League leadership has a launched “Decline to Sign,” a campaign to educate members—and, eventually, voters—about the measure, Stewart said.

The goal is to prevent proponents from collecting 309,000 signatures they need by Jan. 2, 2026, to qualify the initiative.

The proposal would require all voters to have an enhanced drivers’ license or provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person. Voters who don’t would see their registration canceled.

The initiative is one of several efforts across the country that would make both registering to vote and voting more difficult for individuals who are legally eligible. IL26-126 does not address mail-in voting, but Stewart said measures promoted elsewhere try to eliminate it.  

As an initiative to the Legislature, if proponents qualify the measure, lawmakers could adopt the legislation as written, refer it to a people’s vote in November 2026 or propose an alternative ballot initiative.

With its burdensome requirements, IL26-126 would disenfranchise a significant number of individuals who are legally eligible to vote, Stewart said.

What’s more, studies prove the incidence of noncitizens voting in Washington -- and across the country—is miniscule. The Brennan Center for Justice, for one, found of 23.5 million votes cast in 2016, only 30 cases involved suspected noncitizen voting—an incidence rate of 0.0001%.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. The crime is punishable by fines and imprisonment of up to a year. A noncitizen found voting also risks deportation.

Moreover, the measure would be costly for cash-strapped counties to institute and manage.

The real threat to election security, Stewart said, are mis- and dis-information campaigns. “They present a graver danger.”

Click here for more information about “Decline to Sign