Washington Haters Turn In Petitions

They met the minimum and then some.

Opponents of same-sex marriage on Wednesday submitted an estimated 232,000 signatures to the Secretary of State -- all but guaranteeing that the question of whether gays can marry in Washington will now be decided by voters. Preserve Marriage Washington, the campaign's sponsors, planned to bring in at least 9,000 more signatures by the end of the day. The number of signatures Preserve Marriage Washington gathered for Referendum 74 far exceeds the minimum 120,577 the campaign needs to qualify the measure for the November ballot, and is well above the 150,000 that had been recommended.