As I mentioned earlier, Kemper Freeman's anti-tolling, light-rail-derailing Initiative 1125 needs to pick up about nine percentage points in order to pass, according to the new Washington Poll.

Can it? One part of the answer is right here:

1125.png

It can, if just half of the undecideds break in favor of this initiative. And this is where the wild card—the ballot language—comes in. Freeman isn't funding any sort of last-minute advertising push to get this thing passed, but that's partly because he believes the ballot language is enough. It mentions tolls twice, doesn't mention light rail at all, and to an under-informed voter can sound, well, sensible:

Initiative Measure No. 1125 concerns state expenditures on transportation.

This measure would prohibit the use of motor vehicle fund revenue and vehicle toll revenue for non-transportation purposes, and require that road and bridge tolls be set by the legislature and be project-specific.

Should this measure be enacted into law?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

The fact that voters, when they don't have much information about I-1125, tend to pick "yes" is what Freeman describes as "just the common sense of the voter."