WA’s Referendum 71 Update
August 18, 2009
A quick update on Washington State's signature counting which will determine whether Referendum 71 (the question to voters if they want to approve or reject a new comprehensive domestic partnership law) will appear on the ballot in November... The Secretary of State's office reports they are near halfway through hand checking each individual signature to determine its validity:
The new tally shows 58,306 signatures accepted – they need 120,577 valid Washington voter signatures to qualify – 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.) 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. Some have speculated that the measure is headed to the ballot, but the state Elections Division continues to withhold a conclusion.
The original error rates that were reported turned out not to be final as they hadn't gone through the "master checker" who makes the final validity determination on questionable petition signatures. The Secretary of State has a handy FAQ on the whole process.
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