Signature gatherers

AN ACT Relating to establishing penalties and protections against 1
harassment of initiative and referendum signature gatherers; amending 2
RCW 9A.46.020; and prescribing penalties. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 9A.46.020 and 2024 c 292 s 1 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) A person is guilty of harassment if: 7
(a) Without lawful authority, the person knowingly threatens:8
(i) To cause bodily injury immediately or in the future to the 9
person threatened or to any other person; or 10
(ii) To cause physical damage to the property of a person other 11
than the actor; or 12
(iii) To subject the person threatened or any other person to 13
physical confinement or restraint; or 14
(iv) Maliciously to do any other act which is intended to 15
substantially harm the person threatened or another with respect to 16
his or her physical health or safety; and 17
(b) The person by words or conduct places the person threatened 18
in reasonable fear that the threat will be carried out. "Words or 19
conduct" includes, in addition to any other form of communication or 20
conduct, the sending of an electronic communication.21
S-3515.1
SENATE BILL 5843
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Wagoner, J. Wilson, Christian, Dozier, Gildon, and Short
Prefiled 12/08/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Law & Justice.
p. 1 SB 5843
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a person who 1
harasses another is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. 2
(b) A person who harasses another is guilty of a class C felony 3
if any of the following apply: (i) The person has previously been 4
convicted in this or any other state of any crime of harassment, as 5
defined in RCW 9A.46.060, of the same victim or members of the 6
victim's family or household or any person specifically named in a 7
no-contact or no-harassment order; (ii) the person harasses another 8
person under subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section by threatening to 9
kill the person threatened or any other person; (iii) the person 10
harasses a criminal justice participant or election official who is 11
performing his or her official duties at the time the threat is made; 12
or (iv) the person harasses a criminal justice participant or 13
election official because of an action taken or decision made by the 14
criminal justice participant or election official during the 15
performance of his or her official duties. For the purposes of 16
(b)(iii) and (iv) of this subsection, the fear from the threat must 17
be a fear that a reasonable criminal justice participant or election 18
official would have under all the circumstances. Threatening words do 19
not constitute harassment if it is apparent to the criminal justice 20
participant or election official that the person does not have the 21
present and future ability to carry out the threat.22
(3) Any criminal justice participant or election official who is 23
a target for threats or harassment prohibited under subsection 24
(2)(b)(iii) or (iv) of this section, and any person residing with him 25
or her, shall be eligible for the address confidentiality program 26
created under RCW 40.24.030. 27
(4) For purposes of this section, a criminal justice participant 28
includes any (a) federal, state, or local law enforcement agency 29
employee; (b) federal, state, or local prosecuting attorney or deputy 30
prosecuting attorney; (c) staff member of any adult corrections 31
institution or local adult detention facility; (d) staff member of 32
any juvenile corrections institution or local juvenile detention 33
facility; (e) community corrections officer, probation, or parole 34
officer; (f) member of the indeterminate sentence review board; (g) 35
advocate from a crime victim/witness program; or (h) defense 36
attorney. 37
(5) For the purposes of this section, an election official 38
includes (a) any staff member of the office of the secretary of state 39
or staff member of a county auditor's office, regardless of whether 40
p. 2 SB 5843
the member is employed on a temporary or part-time basis, whose 1
duties relate to voter registration or the processing of votes as 2
provided in Title 29A RCW , and (b) a person collecting signatures for 3
an initiative or referendum petition. 4
(6) The penalties provided in this section for harassment do not 5
preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available 6
under law. 7
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p. 3 SB 5843