Referendum 71 Signature Checkers Are Half Way Through Count

Washington state election officials have examined more than 65,000 of 137,689 Referendum 71 signatures, putting them at the half way mark.

The measure, which seeks to overturn Washington's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnership law, will appear on the state's first mail-in ballot (ballots will be mailed as early as October) if the proponents achieve 120,577 valid signatures.

David Ammons, secretary of state spokesman, said the latest tally shows 58,306 signatures accepted "and 7,225 rejected (6,165 because the person wasn't found on the state voter database, 24 where a digital signature is needed from the voter's home county in order to compare with the signature on the petition, 566 where the signer's signature did not match the one on file, and 470 duplicates.)"

"They need 120,577 valid Washington voter signatures to qualify," Ammons said. "Overall, the error rate is currently 11.03 percent, considerably lower than the 20-year average of about 18.5 percent, and still below the maximum error rate the sponsors can absorb, about 12.4 percent. "

The signature count is expected to be done by the end of the month.

Remember, in order to keep the same-sex inclusive domestic partnership law, you must vote to APPROVE Referendum 71.