Proponents of an initiative to reduce the size of the King County Council won the first round in a court battle to get the original wording on the ballot in November.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Cowsert’s ruling Thursday sets the stage for an Aug. 24 showdown in the same court.
King County then will have to demonstrate why its altered version of the initiative should go on the ballot.
“The responsibility is on (King County officials) to prove what they did wasn’t illegal,” said Tim Eyman of Mukilteo, one of five plaintiffs who asked the Snohomish County court to reverse a King County decision. “That puts them on the defensive.”
Mukilteo tax initiative proponent Eyman and the others dispute ballot changes in the bid to reduce the number of King County Council members from 13 to nine. Initiative 18 called for the smaller council by 2005. The King County Council pushed the effective date back to 2007.
The initiative garnered signatures of 71,000 registered voters in King County.
The measure, originally proposed by the King County Corrections Guild, was slated for the 2003 ballot until a King County judge struck down the measure. The state Supreme Court reinstated it.
Eyman, although he lives in Snohomish County, is a member of the Yes on I-18 Committee, a sponsor of the initiative. Eyman said his group is seeking a quick resolution to the dispute because King County officials need the wording by mid-September to get it printed on ballots and in voter pamphlets.
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