Pro-Gay Group Sues To Keep Referendum From Washington State Ballot

Olympia, WA (AHN) – A gay advocacy group has sued Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed for allegedly accepting signatures in a referendum petition for a bill granting same-sex couples domestic partnership rights even if these signatures violated anti-fraud laws.

Conservative groups led by Protect Marriage Washington want to repeal a law, Senate Bill 5688, that grants more rights to state-registered domestic partners similar to those enjoyed by married couples.
Protect Marriage Washington has said the law “will demolish the state’s historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life.”

Washington Families Standing Together filed the suit in King County Superior Court on Thursday, explaining in a statement,”Those trying to qualify Referendum 71 for the ballot do not think that families different than theirs should have these protections, so they are trying to overturn the law…Referendum 71 should only be on the ballot if it has qualified based on legally valid signatures. In order to ensure that it is not put on the ballot in error we needed to file a legal challenge at this point.”

But while WFS is alleging wrongly accepted signatures, Protect Marriage Washington has expressed concerns about a sudden spike in the number of rejections.

To quailfy for the November ballot, sponsors need 120,577 valid signatures and a rejection rate of no more than 12.4 percent. The current error rate is at 11.81 percent, majority of which were excluded because these could not be matched with a person’s voter registration file.

The Office of Secretary of State’s Elections Division is still in the process of checking the 137,689 signatures submitted. The review began on July 29, and has so far checked 88.19 percent. The number of accepted signatures as of Thursday night was 110,797, while rejections were at 14,834.

State Elections Director Nick Handy has predicted that the signature check will be completed by next Tuesday.

Related posts:

1. Battle Over Washington State’s Gay Partnerships Law In Court
2. Group Requests 2010 Ballot Initiative To Ban Gay Marriages In D.C.
3. Gay Marriage Opponents In Maine Submit Petition Seeking November Referendum
4. Same-Sex Marriage Bill To Be Introduced In D.C.
5. Gay Marriage Group Delays Fight Against Proposition 8