WA: Low Rate Of Bad Names On Petitions

The rate of bad names found so far on Washington's domestic partners repeal petitions indicates that the measure may make the ballot, although it's very early in the count.

The secretary of state's office said Monday evening that it has completed its second day of checking signatures on Referendum 71 - the attempt to repeal Washington's "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partner law. So far the error rate is low, 12.31 percent. R-71 proponents turned in 137,689 signatures - 14 percent more than the minimum needed to be placed on the November ballot. Whether Referendum 71 will ultimately qualify is still unclear. As of Monday state election workers had checked 11,502 signatures, and 10,087 have been OK'd with 1,415 rejected, mostly because the person does not show up on the voter rolls. Referendum sponsors need 120,577 valid signatures to earn a place on the November ballot.