One of the many twists and turns of the first-ever Seattle City Council District 1 race was the case of the signature-gathering candidate who fell just short of making it onto the ballot. Instead of paying the $1,200 fee to get onto the ballot, Amanda Kay Helmick, you’ll recall, decided to circulate petitions to get 1,200 signatures. We accompanied her to King County Elections HQ the day she turned them in (photo at right). When all were counted – and recounted – she was nine names short. It was an all-or-nothing situation – $1,200 or 1,200 names – period. So her seven-month campaign ended. But she vowed to fight for a better process. And now a bill has been introduced in the State Legislature … House Bill 2477, with sponsors including our area’s state Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Eileen Cody. If a candidate gathered at least 95 percent of the required number of valid signatures, s/he would have two weeks to cover the shortfall either with signatures or a dollar in lieu of each missing name. After a hearing Tuesday in the House Committee on State Government, that same committee is scheduled to consider the bill in executive session tomorrow.