FYI: Secretary of State Sam Reed has signed paperwork certifying Referendum 71 to the November statewide ballot. It had a scant 1,430-signature margin, possibly the slimmest margin in state history for a measure making the ballot.  The error rate was 11.51 percent, the third lowest in the past 20 years; the average error rate in the past two decades is 18.5 percent.
 
Moments after Reed’s certification of the measure, Judge Julie Spector of King County Superior Court rejected an effort to block a public vote on R-71, which lets Washington voters decide the fate of the recently passed Senate Bill 5688, the “everything but marriage” law that would expand the rights of state-registered domestic partners.  The bill has been on hold since July 26, and has never taken effect. Voters’ choice will be to approve it or to reject it.
 
Our fresh blog post is here: http://blogs.secstate.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2009/09/reed-certifies-r-71-to-fall-ballot/#more-3589
 
The judge’s ruling today is here:http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/en/initiativesReferenda/Documents/court%20orders%20state/Order%20Denying%20Motion%20for%20TRO%209-2-09.pdf