Oregon Petitioners Fail; Domestic Partnerships Set for Jan 1

DOH! Only 116 signatures short.  I knew we should have hired those people (Arno???) to steal signatures...

AP story follows:

SALEM, Ore. -- State election officials say opponents failed to turn in enough valid signatures to block Oregon's new domestic partnership law for same-sex couples.

State elections officials reported Monday the effort fell only 116 valid signatures short of the 55,179 needed to suspend the law and place it on the November 2008 ballot for a popular vote.

That means that as of Jan. 1, Oregon will join eight other states that have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay couples to marry.

Later this week, word is expected on whether opponents gathered enough signatures to block a second gay rights law that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Aaron Toleos

Comments

[John]

And the other referendum failed, too:

SALEM - Today the Elections Division of the Secretary of States Office announced verification of signatures for referendum petition #304 submitted for the November 4, 2008 General Election ballot has been completed.

The result of the signature verification is referendum #304 did not contain enough valid signatures to qualify to the ballot. Referendum #304 was filed on SB 2 passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature.

This proposed referendum required 55,179 valid signatures to gain ballot access. The referendum contains 53,875 valid signatures, or 90.15% of the 59,761 total unverified signatures submitted for verification.

[John Hosty-Grinnell]

YESSS!!!!!!

Equality is spreading, thanks to a pioneering effort to be bold and brave!

Everyone, I salute you! The Champaign's on Tom, lol!