In 1998 voters in the Evergreen State passed the Washington State Civil Rights Initiative. Modeled after a similar measure that had passed in California, it outlawed racial preferences in public employment, contracting and college admissions and passed with 58% of the vote. Now the people of Washington will vote on a new measure designed to roll back the old ban.

It’s been a tumultuous path to the ballot. On the last night of its 2019 session, the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed Initiative 1000. This overturned the...