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Ref 74 The Deadline Is Near


The dead line for the opponents of marriage equality are nearing the deadline for them to turn all the signatures they have gathered to try and get Referendum 74 on the ballot in November, according to "Preserve Marriage Washington" (one of the most perverse name for a group that wants to take the basic human right of marriage away from people) they have enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot.  As of Wednesday they claimed to have over 150,00 signatures which is am amount that the Secretary of States Office recommends to insure a buffer for invalid and duplicate signatures in order to meet the legal requirement of 120,557 valed signatures.  They are cutting it close with Tuesday being June 5th and the deadline being Jun 6th, but if what they say is true, then sort of them having a much higher then average rate of non valid signatures, their measure will be on the ballot in November.  Which means that it is going to be a long battle up until election day, or more importantly in a state that is all vote by mail, a battle up until the ballots hit the mail boxes and people start casting their vote. (as many are like me and my family and have voted up to a week before election day, thus the window of  out reach is narrowed even more)



The next step in the process is going to be the checking and the counting of the signatures, and the signatures to be certified by the Secretary of States Office, which is a time consuming process of checking the signatures first for duplicates.  Then after all those have been weeded out, the remaining signatures are checked against the state voter roll to be sure that they are a registered voter within the state.  If the signature meets that criteria it is then certified and counted towards the required 120,557 signatures required to get on the ballot.  Being as it is the last key step till the ballot it is one of the most closely watched steps along the way by both sides to try and insure that the count is accurate and not "corrupted".  Now this is not the first time that a gay rights issue has wound up on the ballot in WA, in 09 Ref 71 which was vote on the states then everything but marriage law made the ballot and was approved, and this time around the signature release(Washington state law requires that all signatures of any referendum or initiative petition be released to the public) should go much more smoothly, as Ref 71's failed challenge to the law, in which the US Supreme Court ruled that the law was constructional and that petition signers have no right to have their names with healed, it will make it easier to keep a watchful eye on the honesty of the process.

While there is always hope that Ref 74 will not make the ballot, it is looking like short of them having much higher then average rate of non valid signatures the measure will make the ballot, and marriage equality will be up for vote in November.  Polls have been mixed depending on the questions asked, and wording, but the latest poll has found that 54% of those that where polled support marriage equality, however the poll that found that answer did not ask how those polled would be voting on Ref 74.  That is significant as in past polling on the subject there seemed to be a gap between the percentage of people that said they support marriage equality and the percentage of people that said they would vote to approve the referendum.  This is significant because support that dose not turn into an approve vote really is as good as no support at all.  The challenge is going to be narrowing that gap between support and an approve vote.

It promises to be a drawn out long battle as many national anti gay equality groups have already pledged support to "Preserve Marriage Washington"  one of which is NOM. Which means that undoubtedly the prop 8 style adds will be making their appearance as fast as the signatures can be certified. All of this means that now is a good time to throw support behind Washington United For Marriage, in the fight to protect this landmark law, from those that wish to see it taken off the books. Their is hope though as many of the prop 8 style negative adds did not work back in 09 when in conjunction with Ref 71 they where used them to try and overturn the states then "every thing but marriage" law.  Those opposed to equality then where sorely disappointed when the majority of voters approved Ref 71, which eventually paved the way for Washington states landmark marriage equality legislation.  So the voters of the state have shown them selves to be smarter then the tactics of the anti equality crowed, and they have also had time to make the same sort of journey of progress that  both the Governor Gregoire and President Obama have made. So one can hope that Washington will repeat the history it made with Ref 71 (being the first state for voters to uphold a gay rights law) and approve Ref 74. I will leave it at that for now my dear readers, as always thank you for subscribing, and commenting.

Comments

  1. I think they chose that sort of name to confuse and befuddle the voters. It seems as though from their name that they are all for marriage equal rights, sort of like the name trick the anti-abortionists have played.

    Im hoping that they dont get on the ballot, due to to many invalid names. Its about time we win one, yeah? I'm thinking that marriage might just stay legal in Washington, at least i'm really really really hoping so.

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    Replies
    1. I am hoping that they don't get on the ballot ether, but if they do then I really do hope that history repeats its self and we trounce them and their hate filled agenda once again! History is on our side with this one.

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  2. First off why don't you actually grow some balls and post this as something other then anonymous, I mean really you feel so strongly about this yet you don't even have the balls to put any sort of name to it.

    "why do gays think that anyone who doesn't agree with them are hate filled." I love how you assume that A. all gays are the same B. That such feelings are exclusive to "the gays" and are not at all shared by straights, which would be a gross misunderstanding on your part. There is nothing exclusive to the gay community about being able to look at the agenda of Protect Marriage Washington and it's backers and seeing the hate that is behind it. Matter of fact I have yet to run into a straight person that I know that dose not see it for the same hate and homophobia filled piece of work that it is.

    After all last time that I checked when you are loving towards (not in the romantic since) you don't try to put up to vote their basic human rights and you sure as hell don't try to take away one of those basic human rights, which is exactly what marriage is and has been found to be by the UN and that is a position that the US has been signed on to for decades, for the entire history of the UN bill of human rights. It is not from a position of love, hell of even basic kindness that one calls the committed loving relationships of other Bizarre and unnatural, it is from a place of homophobia that these things come from and homophobia is feed by hatred.

    There is no such thing as being politely homophobic and you Sir/or Mam are most certainly not polite in any way shape or form , instead you are extremely caustic and offensive in the way that you have chosen to speak and express your views. You show how hypocritical that those who share your views are and how willfully ignorant you are. Not to mention that you know full well why you are seen for the hateful little things that you are but instead of owning up to it you feign ignorance and try to paint your selves as the victim, well my friend the days where that trick works have and are quickly coming to an end.

    I will not even dignify your last remark with a response as you are being acutely rude, but it is strange that someone that finds gay people so repulsive you sure seem to think about what goes on in the bedroom way more then any gay person does. like the old saying goes you object to much.

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  4. Dear Anonymous,
    If you hate us so much, what on earth are you doing reading a GAY blog? You sure wont catch me reading your hate filled bigot right wing Christos-fascist blogs and sites, so why are you here?

    And as for finding anal sex disgusting, for your information its a common sex position for straight couples, so are you going to outlaw anal sex for everyone again? How old are you anyway, or are you really just that repressed that you can't even manage to type the words anal sex? Go ahead, no one is listening, say the words out loud, and see? Your G_d didnt smite you, or bring the world to an end. S/he doesnt care about sex positions, or what sex the people who love each other are. Yeah, yeah I know, the Bible says its wrong for two guys to love each other, and you want to keep marriage "traditional", so you're planning on multiple wives, and having concubines and sex with your female slaves? Oh, yeah you might be female, so I suppose it would be ok with you if your husband did all of those things, cause really what straight guy is going to turn down having sex with many women, without having to hide it? Also, when are you planning to bring back slavery? Or stop cutting your hair? No more mixed fiber clothing for you either!! Yeah and that weekend meal at the Red Lobster? Unless you eat scaled fish while there, its a no no as well. Leviticus was written to help keep the Jewish people separate from their neighbors, to give them a sense of community so they wouldn't assimilate into their society and forget about their covenant with G_d, and possibly begin to worship multiple gods and goddesses. However Jesus removed those rules from common use. But you in your wisdom have tossed out what Jesus had said right out the window to justify your bigotry and hate, he must be so proud of you.

    Get with it, society changes, and our perception of the Bible changes with it.

    As for you query about why lgbt people say you're hate filled? How about the little fact of not being a full citizen in our own country? Depriving someone of their full civil rights is pretty damned hateful if you ask me.

    Biki a gay transman

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