The past few days have seen a back and forth surrounding Washington state’s Referendum 71. Anti-LGBTers received enough signatures to put the state’s domestic partnership law to a public vote.
But pro-LGBT Washington Families Standing Together filed a lawsuit to prevent that vote, claiming that the secretary of state had certified invalid signatures.
This morning, a Washington Kings County judge rejected WAFST’s challenge, but only on a technicality.
King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector issued her ruling on Referendum 71 Wednesday morning, just as Secretary of State Sam Reed certified the measure for the November ballot in Olympia.
The judge held that challenges to a referendum must be filed in Thurston County Superior Court after certification – and supporters of the “everything but marriage” said they would quickly follow the judge’s suggestion.
Spector said she had serious concerns that Reed’s office apparently accepted thousands of invalid signatures from conservative Christian groups trying to force a public vote on the expanded benefits.
Keep in mind, too, that if Referendum 71 does make it to the ballot this November, Washington voters will need to vote FOR Ref. 71. It’s a bit confusing, I know, but a “yes” vote is a vote in favor of the domestic partnership law.
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