Initiative supporters file an appeal of domestic partnership initiative language

Last night, supporters of an initiative to prevent the expansion of domestic partnership filed an appeal to the Thurston County Superior Court on the proposed ballot language.

The proposed language was:
“…This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of registered domestic partners and their families to include all rights, responsibilities, and obligations granted by or imposed by state law on married couples and their families.”

But Larry Stickney, the initiative backer who filed the appeal, proposed this:
“This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities and obligations of registered domestic partners to be equal to the rights, responsibilities and obligations granted by or imposed by state law on married couples, except that domestic partnerships will not be called marriages.”

The appeal will now be heard by the court, but that may be a few weeks, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Since the group cannot collect signatures until the appeal is heard and the language is determined, the appeal gives them less time to collect signatures. They need to get 120,577 signatures from valid, registered voters in the state of Washington by July 25 in order to get on the November ballot.

Tags: Domestic partnership, initiative