You know you want to pop your head in the Elections Division door and see how all this R-71 signature check business actually works … But since you can’t (sorry, we’re at our observer max down there), we’re bringing the check to you. This 5-minute video shows you the basics of signature checking and gives you an idea of what our checkers are up to:
Crews checking Referendum 71 signatures report they’ve now checked over 50,000 signatures. The daily update reflects the completion of checks on 220 bound volumes that contain 15 petitions sheets apiece. The previous day’s report showed a big increase in volumes that were completed by master checkers, but Thursday’s number was much smaller. That ebb-and-flow will continue according to the pace of the master-checking process. The new totals here show that 45,099 were accepted and 5,394 rejected, for a rejection or error…
What the heck is a “master checker”? Why are election workers checking every single signature submitted for Referendum 71, the “everything-but marriage” law, rather than the more usual random sample? Why are advocates on both sides watching the truly arcane figures on how many duplicate R-71 signatures are being found? The current rejection rate is running between 10 and 11 percent. What’s the dividing line that separates success or failure for R-71 sponsors – and what have the signature checks over the past…
Election crews have now posted the latest Referendum 71 signature-check results, adding over 15,000 checked signatures, pushing the total to over 48,000. The tally now includes 43,147 signatures accepted and 5,142 rejected, with a slightly higher rejection rate of 10.65 percent. A number of bound volumes, with 15 petition sheets per batch, were completed by the master checkers and added to the running total. The signature rejections were mostly due to the person not being found on the statewide voter registration database…
State election officials have released the first of a new format of daily updates for the closely watched Referendum 71 signature checks. The late Tuesday recap, reflecting only the batches that have been fully vetted by checkers and reviewed and revised by master checkers, shows 33,214 signatures checked, with 3,462 rejected, for a current error rate of 10.42 percent. The error rate is lower than the daily and cumulative numbers that had been previously reported, because the earlier numbers included many signatures that…
State election workers have now checked over 35,000 Referendum 71 signatures, including 5,926 during the Friday day-shift. The daily rejection rate was 12.91 percent, which was higher than the newly revised cumulative error rate. R-71 backers, hoping to force a public vote this fall on the state’s new “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law, need 120,577 valid signatures to earn a ballot spot. They submitted 137,689, and Friday was the sixth day of checking by election crews. The day shift ended with 5,926 new…
State election officials continue posting fresh numbers in their closely watched check of signatures for Referendum 71, with the latest complete numbers for Thursday now showing 6,483 checked and 935 rejected, for a cumulative daily error rate of 14.42 percent. The previously announced rejection rate for the day-shift check was running a bit higher, almost 15 percent. Thursday was the first day the Elections Division used two shifts of checkers. At the new rate, the verification process could be completed…
State Election workers processed another 6,140 petition signatures for Referendum 71 Wednesday, the attempt by Protect Marriage Washington to secure a statewide vote this fall on the “everything but marriage” law expanding rights and responsibilities for state-registered domestic partners. Checkers rejected 872 signatures for various reasons, for a daily error rate of 14.2 percent. By the numbers: The error rate was similar to the 14.4 percent the previous day. Overall, 23,457 signatures have been processed, with a cumulative error rate of…
Election officials have processed another 5,815 Referendum 71 signatures, rejecting 14.4 percent. Rounding out the third day of R-71 checks, 17,317 signatures have now been processed, with a total of 15,067 accepted so far. It takes 120,577 valid voter signatures to gain a place on the statewide November ballot. Sponsors, a conservative social-action group called Protect Marriage Washington, turned in137,689 names on July 25, and the state Elections Division is doing an every-signature check to see if the people are on the state…
Sponsors of Referendum 71 have secured a federal court order that will halt, at least temporarily, plans by the state Elections Division to release the names, addresses and signatures of people who signed the R-71 petitions. As a state election crew began counting R-71 signatures, the campaign group called Protect Washington Families, went to U.S. District Court in Tacoma and got a temporary restraining order that blocks release of the more than 9,000 petition sheets. The referendum sponsors hope to…