After 17% (23,457) of the signatures have been checked, the percentage of invalid signatures has risen above the minimum rate needed to make it on the ballot. The current rate of invalid signatures is 13.31%, higher than the 12.4% cap needed to qualify, and that rate is likely to climb every day. Each day the number of duplicate signatures could grow as more valid signatures are recorded in the system. But the majority of invalid signatures are not even registered voters in Washington State.
A few of the voters do not have signatures on file with the Secretary of State but currently that represents just .3% of the signatures. All or most of the those could be eventually shifted over to the “accepted” stack when their home counties report back with a legible signature bringing the invalid rate down to just over 13%.
While the campaign message to “Approve” and maintain the current domestic partnership law has already started, the Ref. 71 campaign to repeal it appears to be headed to failure if current trends continue but overall it is still too close to call.
Shane Hamlin, assistant state elections director in charge of the referendum operation, announced that a second shift of checkers will be brought on, beginning Thursday, so the checking can be accelerated. The day shift will work from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the swing shift will work from 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. With the new workforce, the Elections Division now is hoping to wrap up the full-signature check by sometime the week of August 17.
Though the majority of people in Washington support domestic partnerships putting it up for a popular vote is really in no one’s best interest right now, including conservatives, which could actually serve as a validation of support for gay unions if voters were to approve domestic partnerships. But many on both sides are still hurting over the election day surprise of Prop 8 in California.
