Washington's domestic partnerships law, scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, was blocked by anti-gay activists who turned in signatures for Referendum 71 on Saturday. If enough are valid, the referendum will be put on the ballot and would repeal the "everything but marriage" measure.
"The signatures for Referendum 71 were turned in to the Washington state secretary of state's office Saturday afternoon. The new expanded domestic partnership law was scheduled to take effect Sunday, but is now delayed until the signatures can be counted. To qualify for the November ballot, they must have 120,577 valid voter signatures, and election officials have suggested that referendum sponsors turn in about 150,000 as a buffer. If they have enough signatures, the law will be delayed until the outcome of the election. The signatures were turned in a day after opponents of the new law announced a final push to force a public vote, calling their effort so far 'too close to call.' In a statement to supporters, organizers of the Referendum 71 campaign said that it was "too close to call" and that they needed people to show up on Saturday at the Capitol to turn in their signatures. The new 'everything but marriage' expansion of domestic partnerships is scheduled to take effect Sunday, but the law will be delayed if referendum sponsors turn in their petitions."
Some folks are claiming that Referendum 71 backers used fraudulent methods to obtain signatures. Driving Equality blog claims to have evidence of it on video.
No comments:
Post a Comment