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Tag: R-71

R-71: Effective 12-3-09

R-71: Effective 12-3-09

Media outlets have declared Referendum 71 approved by voters, describing it as the country’s first voter-ratified gay-rights measure.   As of Friday afternoon, the measure had an approval margin of nearly 71,000, or about 5 percentage points –754,180 to 683,320.  King County, which accounts for nearly a third of the electorate, was giving the measure an approval margin of over 150,000. King’s approval rate has been running 68 percent, and a number of the ballots remaining to be counted are from that county….

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Recount? Let me count the ways …

Recount? Let me count the ways …

With Seattle and Tacoma mayoral races uber-close — and other contests as well —  we’re getting the inevitable questions about the R word — recount. Here’s the crash course: –The basic rule is that a recount is mandatory if the margin is less than one-half of 1 percent and also less than 2,000 votes. (If you want to look up the citation, it’s RCW 29A.64.021.  If you want to wait for the movie, that’s OK, too.) –A manual recount, as…

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The voters speak … and keep speaking

The voters speak … and keep speaking

After an “Election Day” that spanned nearly three weeks, the process of tallying the final vote will take still more time. As of this morning, ballots of 28.5 percent of the state’s 3.58 million registered voters have been counted.  That’s over a million ballots.  Tons more are being processed as we speak, and many more are still “in the mail,” since state law only requires that ballots be postmarked by Nov. 3. How many people will have voted by the…

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‘Looming over gay-rights vote’: Disclosure debate

‘Looming over gay-rights vote’: Disclosure debate

Washington’s hot ballot measure dealing with domestic partnerships, Referendum 71, is getting national media attention, along with Maine, which is voting on actual gay marriage.  But in Washington, the debate is sometimes eclipsed by a legal and public relations war over whether the R-71 petitions should be released as a public record, or kept confidential. The New York Times’ William Yardley visited this disclosure battle in a Sunday newspaper piece ,calling the dispute a collision of “privacy, free speech and elections in…

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WA Poll: R-71 leads, I-1033 trails

WA Poll: R-71 leads, I-1033 trails

Fresh poll numbers for the ballot-topping statewide measures: The Washington Poll shows Referendum 71 with a wide margin for voter approval of the “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law that Olympia passed last spring, and Initiative 1033, state and local revenue caps, trailing. The nonpartisan survey is sponsored by a research center at the University of Washington. Pollsters contacted 724 registered voters statewide from Oct. 14-26. Margin of error is 3.6 percent. The poll showed 56 percent in favor or…

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High court continues ban on releasing R-71 petitions

High court continues ban on releasing R-71 petitions

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to continue blocking, at least temporarily, Washington State from releasing Referendum 71 petitions under the state’s Public Records Act. The high court, ruling in a request by Justice Anthony Kennedy, agreed to keep in place Kennedy’s order that bans release of the documents while appeals are being sought. The court thus suspends the ruling last Thursday by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the R-71 documents are releasable.  That means that, at least…

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R-71 petitions on hold: Justice Kennedy halts release

R-71 petitions on hold: Justice Kennedy halts release

Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court has at least temporarily blocked release of petitions in support of putting Referendum 71 on the statewide ballot. Kennedy, in a one-page order, agreed with the request of Protect Marriage Washington to “stay” or freeze, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last Thursday that had cleared the way for releasing the petitions under terms of the state’s broad public disclosure law.  In so doing, Kennedy let stand the order of U.S….

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Releasing petitions: What’s the deal?

Releasing petitions: What’s the deal?

Katie Blinn, assistant state elections director, wraps up in a new narrative the background history on why the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office, treats initiative and referendum petitions as releasable public records. Blinn, an attorney and former legislative committee counsel, traces the litigation in state and federal court and recounts the history of petition sheets that have been released in prior years – and those that await the green light from the courts.

Federal judges OK release of R-71 petitions

Federal judges OK release of R-71 petitions

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just lifted the ban on Washington releasing Referendum 71 petitions. A three-judge panel handed a clear victory to the Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna, who had vigorously argued that the state’s voter-approved Public Records Act requires the state to treat initiative and referendum petition sheets as a releasable public record. The court, in a brief three-page order released from Pasadena, Calif., said it is reversing Tacoma-based U.S. District…

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R-71: Stay tuned for federal court decision on petitions

R-71: Stay tuned for federal court decision on petitions

Should Washington officials be allowed to release Referendum 71 petition sheets? That touchy issue is in the hands of a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, Calif., following a hearing this morning. Deputy Solicitor General Bill Collins, who represented the state, reported a very well-prepared panel and a “very lively” discussion of the issues. He said the court has taken the case under advisement without indicating when – or how – they will rule. Since the appeals…

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