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| UPDATE: Domestic partnership cancel court petition to amend Referendum 71 title |
by Shaun Knittel -
SGN Staff Writer
Washington Values Alliance, the organization leading the campaign against expanding the state's domestic partnership law, filed a petition May 26 to amend the referendum language - however, according to Legal Voice Executive Director Lisa Stone, they plan on canceling the petition at 1 p.m. today, May 29.
A ballot title is the official, short summary of a ballot measure that appears on the ballot. The goal of a good ballot title is to be a neutral summary that accurately conveys to voters the gist of what the proposed new law says or would do. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, most voters never read more than the title and summary of the text of initiative proposals.
Larry Stickney, president of the Washington Values Alliance, filed the petition in Thurston County Superior Court challenging the wording of its potential ballot measure, Referendum 71.
Gary Randall from the Faith of Freedom network posted on his blog May 28 that his organization plans to print petitions May 29 to gather signatures in favor of Referendum 71. If the proponents collect more than 120,500 valid voter signatures by July 25, the referendum will make the November ballot.
By filing a challenge, Washington Values Alliance delayed their own signature gathering process by at least one week, maybe longer, because they cannot legally start circulating petitions until the challenge is resolved. Meanwhile, Equal Rights Washington and Legal Marriage Alliance, two grassroots organizations fighting for LGBT civil rights, have already launched a "Decline to Sign" campaign, gathering signatures of supporters who decline to sign any Referendum 71 petition. Stone said that once Thurston County Judge Thomas McPhee rules on the ballot title - if they don't cancel May 29 - there is no longer an option to appeal the decision.
"Washington Families Standing Together has an incredible legal team which is allowing us the ability to simultaneously forge ahead with the rapid development of our campaign to protect Washington families," said Equal Rights Washington Advocacy Director Josh Friedes.
He said they are prepared for the possibility that signature gathering could begin almost immediately if they dismiss the challenge. If they dismiss the challenge, they would have lost a week in signature gathering and gained nothing, Friedes said.
"Regardless of when they start collecting signatures, this weekend is a great time to remind family and friends to decline to sign Referendum 71 petitions. I'm putting a 'Decline to Sign' message on my voicemail and my Facebook status bar, and I plan to hand out 'Decline to Sign' leaflets when I join thousands of Washingtonians in a march for affordable healthcare Saturday," Friedes added. "Everyone should make their own 'Decline to Sign Referendum 71' action plans."
On the same day Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5688, which granted same-sex domestic partners all the rights of married couples, the attorney general released details of Referendum 71, which aimed at overturning the law.
If Referendum 71 makes it to the November 3 ballot, nearly 6,000-registered domestic partnerships are at stake.
New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia have laws that either recognize civil unions, or domestic partnerships that afford same-sex couples similar rights to marriage. To date, 30 states have Gay marriage bans in their constitutions.
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