Protecting the integrity of the state initiative and referendum process by requiring a demonstration of support before issuance of a ballot measure title and authorizing citizen actions for certain signature gatherer compensation violations.

SB 5973 requires initiative sponsors to collect 1,000 verified signatures from legal Washington voters before filing a proposed measure with the secretary of state, aiming to reduce duplicate or low-support filings that confuse voters and strain state resources. It also bans paying signature gatherers based on the number of signatures collected - a practice linked to past fraud cases like forged signatures in initiatives (e.g., 2012's Initiative 1185). These changes directly affect initiative sponsors, signature gatherers, and state offices by adding a pre-filing verification step and prohibiting per-signature compensation. The bill seeks to strengthen ballot measure integrity without altering the core initiative process.