Box Turtle Bulletin

Washington’s Referendum 71 Deadline

This Saturday is the deadline for the presentation of signatures to the Washington Secretary of State so as to put on the ballot a proposition to reverse the state legislature\’s vote for Domestic Partnership enhancement. If enough signatures are not collected, the bill will become law, granting to Washington\’s gay couples virtually all of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of marriage.

To reach the ballot, Referendum 71 will need 120,577 valid signatures and should turn it at least 150,000 to allow for a buffer. As of last Thursday, the campaign had reported to anti-gay group Concerned Women for America that they had collected about 75,000.

Although there was a big push over the weekend, it may be difficult for the Protect Marriage campaign to collect, count and organize enough signatures. They will decide on Friday if they will go forward and present such signatures as they have collected. (Seattle Times)

Larry Stickney of Protect Washington, said Monday he didn’t have an estimate on the number of signatures gathered so far, but “we think it’s going to be very, very close.”

Stickney said those heading the campaign will decide on Friday whether to keep the appointment. “If it’s close we’ll keep the appointment,” he said. “If it’s not, we’ll probably pull back.”

This will not be a straight-forward decision for the organization.

(see update below)

WhoSigned.org has pledged to put a searchable database of all signatories online. Should Protect Washington have only a small amount over 120,577 signatures, they run the risk of not only having invalid signatures disqualify the referendum but of having all of their signers suffer the consequence of having their neighbors think less of them.

And, indeed, the opinion of ones neighbors does play a big part in anti-gay activism in Washington. And it is reflected in the difficulty that this campaign has had in drawing the sort of organized support that previous anti-gay efforts have had.

An excellent article in the Seattle Times discusses the change in Washington\’s religious right and why many conservatives are holding back from this effort. Some are tired, some focused on the economy or other issues, but it seems that some conservative Christians are recognizing that their obsessive attack on the rights of their gay neighbors are tarnishing their image.

Senior Pastor Emeritus Jan Hettinga, 64, of Northshore Baptist Church, and an organizer of 2004’s Mayday for Marriage rally, said many at his church feel they’ve “been there and done that” on political issues, and “all we got was really, really bad press and a bad image.”

Branding the disagreement over same-sex marriage as hatred and bigotry was a smart strategy by gay-rights supporters, Hettinga said. “No Christians I know want to be considered haters.

Pastor Joseph Fuiten, senior pastor at Cedar Park Assembly of God Church in Bothell, is questioning just to what extent the church should spend its time doing what he has done so much in the past

Ref. 71 “drags us backward into a negative fight we’re not going to win.”

“I don’t want the church to be viewed as oppressive, [and] as opposed to people living their lives and eking out whatever happiness they can.”

He says he believes that different times call for different strategies and says that now, with the country less in sync with his traditional values, and many hurting because of the economy, people need to hear about hope, not about hell.

“God is not coercive,” he said. “The idea that people ought to be free to live their life and live the way they want to — I don’t object to that.”

I suspect that many religious leaders in Washington are hoping that the signature drive fails. A vote is a no-win situation for them. Either they lose at the polls, thus giving political ammunition to gay rights supporters, or they lose in the public\’s perception of them as bullies and bigots.

While we should be prepared to battle in Washington in November, this will be a battle that few really want and which may be averted entirely this weekend.

UPDATE: Brian with WhoSigned.org has provided us with the following clarification.

Our understanding is that the Elections Division of the Secretary of State has to certify that the Ref. 71 petition has sufficient valid signatures before it becomes part of the public record. If the petition has insufficient valid signatures, it is not certified, does not become part of the public record, and cannot be the subject of a public records request.

WhoSigned.org and KnowThyNeighbor.org can only make accessible what the Washington Secretary of State makes public.

UPDATE 2: Brian has a further clarification, based on his conversation with the Elections Division.

Signatures actually become public records when they are electronically scanned after submission by the petitioners. This happens regardless of whether they have sufficient valid signatures so they are available for public records request.

If the petitioners submit signatures and they are made public record, we will be requesting that public record and making the information accessible online.