BREAKING! Judge will not prevent R71 certification for November ballot; case moves to Thurston Co

September 2, 10:26 AMSnohomish County Progressive ExaminerChad Shue

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The Seattle Times is reporting that King County Superior Court Judge, Julie Spector has refused to stop the Secretary of State from Certifying Referendum 71 for the November ballot. According the the report:

King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector made the ruling this morning in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Washington Families Standing Together, a group supporting the state's recent law giving gay couples greater domestic-partnership benefits.

Backers of the referendum seek to overturn that law by putting it up for a public vote.

Secretary of State Sam Reed certified R-71 for the November ballot this morning after his office issued a count of 122,007 signatures — 1,430 more than the 120,577 signatures required to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

In her decision, Judge Spector agreed with the SoS's office that her court had no authority to prevent that office from accepting the questionable petitions. She said that anyone who wanted to challenge the signature count would have to do so after the count was certified and do so in a Thurston County Superior Court within 5 days of the certification.

While Spector said, "the court recognizes the concerns raised by the plaintiffs regarding the validity of a significant number of petitions and signatures in this case." she also added the law does not require the secretary of state to refuse to accept petitions that do not meet state law and that it is unclear whether there are limits to the secretary of state's discretion to accept petitions.

For their part, Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST) through their Chair, Anne Levinson, indicated that they would be bringing their suit to Thurston County as soon as possible. Of the judge's ruling she said, ""The court's ruling today strongly reinforced (our) position that thousands of signatures had been accepted that were not done in compliance with Washington state law."

At the heart of their lawsuit are the RCWs that describe the correct form of a petition and who may sign a petition for an initiative or referendum to the state. At stake are potentially thousands of names that could be stricken from the certified count, thus jeopardizing the referendum's place on the November ballot.

For more on this, see my previous articles, Judge to rule tomorrow on validity of Ref. 71 signatures, Group seeks injunction against Ref. 71, and Referendum 71 signatures may face challenge.

Peace,
Chad Shue