Washington judge rejects challenge to R-71

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Secretary of State Sam Reed may have accepted tens of thousands of invalid signatures before he certified a November referendum on expanding domestic partnership benefits, a King County judge said Sept 2.

But state law requires that any challenge to Reed’s decision be brought in Thurston County Superior Court, King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector said in rejecting a lawsuit that sought to block Referendum 71 from the ballot.

Supporters of expanded legal benefits for gay couples immediately said they’d pursue their efforts in Thurston County.

“Judge Spector issued a very strong affirmation of the deficiencies in the signatures and petitions accepted by the secretary of state,” said Anne Levinson, a lawyer who has led the effort to keep R-71 off the ballot. “If those petitions had been correctly disqualified, the measure would not have had enough signatures to be certified.”

Reed announced Wednesday morning that of nearly 138,000 signatures turned in by the conservative Christian group Protect Marriage Washington, 122,007 were valid – 1,430 more than necessary.

The group opposes to the so-called “everything but marriage” law, which would grant registered domestic partners all legal benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals.