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Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Extra Fizz: What Will Happen If Both Liquor Measures Pass

2010 Election, Politics, This Washington   July 2, 2010 at 10:20 am Erica C. Barnett

Niki Reading of TVW has a Q&A with Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed today in which Reed shed some light on the murky question of what will happen if both I-1100 and I-1105, the dueling liquor-privatization initiatives, pass. State law, Reed said, mandates that if two similar initiatives pass, the one that gets the most votes wins.

But, Reed added, there’s a wrinkle: The two proposals include some conflicting language. “Say one gets more votes but the other has some language the one that got the most votes didn’t have – then that would be included,” Reed said. “In other words, this is going to give the attorneys a lot of fun.”

Incidentally, there’s a local precedent for this conundrum: Backs in 1998,  activists proposed a measure that would have competed with the Libraries for All property-tax levy. Although the rival measure ultimately  failed to make it on to the ballot, if it had, the same rules—the measure that gets the most votes wins—would have applied.




  • MVH

    I was wondering about that. Thanks, Erica!

  • http://michaelmaddux.blogspot.com/ Michael M.

    I'm glad that Secretary Reed has made the attempt to clarify this.

    However, I would point out that your “precedent” isn't precedent. Had both been on the ballot, both passed, and then everything worked out, it would be precedent. But that was, obviously, not the case. It just happens to be an example of a previous attempt to get two similar measures on the ballot, just locally.

  • http://manywordsforrain.blogspot.com/ Mr. Baker

    Free booze now!

    So, are retail sales at the local lounge at 1:55am possible?
    I just want to know when to not ever be outside.