While admitting that plaintiffs raise
valid concerns in their bid to block the certification of a
referendum that aims to repeal a gay-inclusive domestic partnership
law in Washington State, King County Superior Court Judge Julie
Spector on Wednesday rejected the challenge on a technicality.
Secretary of State Sam Reed certified
Referendum 71 on Wednesday. But the referendum barely met the
state's minimum with about 1,200 signatures to spare.
Referendum 71 puts the “everything
but marriage” law up for a November vote. If passed, the law would
extend a 2007 domestic partnership law for a second time, granting
gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided rights,
benefits and responsibilities of marriage.
The gay rights group Washington
Families Standing Together filed the lawsuit before election
officials had certified the referendum, alleging the secretary of
state had accepted thousands of “defective petitions” and
signatures of people who were not registered voters at the time they
signed the petitions.
Election officials say they are
following the advice of Attorney General Rob McKenna, who in a 2006
opinion said a declaration printed on the back of petitions does not
need to be signed.
“Based on what the Attorney General's
opinion says,” Nick Handy, state elections director, explained in a
blog post, “if the declaration is not printed on the back of the
petitions, our office will reject the petition sheets. Under the
Attorney General's opinion, the declaration does not have to be
signed. If it is not signed, our office will not reject the petition
sheets. Since 2006, we have consistently advised all initiatives and
referendum sponsors that they do not have to submit signed
declarations on the back. They do have to submit petition sheets
with the declaration printed on the back.”
Plaintiffs disagree, arguing the 2005
law requires a signed declaration. The declaration states that the
signature-gatherer personally circulated the petition without promise
of compensation.
Spector's
ruling appeared to side with plaintiffs but she denied the
motion, saying that a challenge to a referendum can only occur after
it has been certified by the secretary of state and that it must be
brought in Thurston County Superior Court.
She noted that an unsigned declaration
“essentially renders the declaration meaningless.”
While conceding that the common
practice of simultaneously registering people as they sign a
referendum might be good policy, she said the practice has been found
to be illegal by other state supreme courts (but not Washington
State).
Finally, Spector appeared concerned
with the language used in the petitions, which she called “apparent
falsehoods, hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims.” The petition
claims that the law would force public schools to teach that gay
marriage and being gay are normal “even over the objections of
parents” and that Referendum 71 would “protect children.”
But Spector also gave supporters of the
referendum hope when she said that state law does not require the
secretary of state to not accept petitions that do not meet statutory
requirements: “In summary, under Washington case law it is unclear
whether there are any limits to the secretary of state's discretion
as long he has chosen to accept petitions rather than reject them.”
Meanwhile, a Washington
Poll report released Wednesday shows strong public support for
recognizing gay unions in the state. The poll shows that support for
gay domestic partnerships and marriage has increased from 58% in 2006
to 66% in 2008, while opposition declined 5% during the same period,
with only 21% of respondents agreeing last year that gay and lesbian
couples should be granted no legal recognition.