UPDATE: Gregoire signs domestic partner law; challenge afoot
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A ballot challenge is afoot to Washington's new "everything but marriage" domestic partnership expansion.
Just hours after Governor Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5688 in Seattle, the Attorney General released the paperwork necessary for foes to begin their work to secure a November vote on the measure. The Attorney General had been waiting for the governor to take action -- she could sign it, veto it entirely or veto sections.
Jay Geck, deputy solicitor general, sent Secretary of State Reed a ballot title for Referendum 71, briefly stating the subject -- expansion of rights and responsibilities for state-registered domestic partners. A longer summary also is provided.
The sponsors now have one final hurdle before they can print petitions and start collecting voter signatures -- both friends and foe can head to Thurston County Superior Court to seek a revision to the ballot title. That can take a week.
Sponsors will have until July 25 to collect 120,577 valid signatures to secure a place on the November 3 statewide ballot.
The domestic partner registry is a program of the Office of Secretary of State. As of late Monday, nearly 5,400 couples were registered, both same-sex couples and heterosexual couples where one partner is 62 or older. The web site is here.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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