Petition gets over 240,000 signatures
By Michael Gryboski
US (The Christian Post): A coalition of groups seeking to overturn Washington State’s same-sex marriage law received twice as many signatures as would be needed to have a referendum in November. Preserve Marriage Washington (PMW) collected about 242,000 signatures to get the referendum on marriage definition put on the November ballot; the minimum number of valid signatures needed was approximately 120,000.
Joseph Backholm, chairman of PMW, told The Christian Post that the cause for the success rate for this signature gathering was the grassroots effort launched.
“We had more than 1500 churches and more than 5000 individuals involved in the signature collection effort,” said Mr Backholm. “We know those trying to redefine marriage are highly motivated, well organised, and well-funded. We expect to have to work very hard and will need the involvement of every common sense conservative in Washington State.”
The signatures gathered have been turned in to the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia. While there is still a verification process, many recognise that the sheer number of names all but guarantees the matter will be decided by voters come November.
“We believe this is a good indicator of a tremendous amount of support in Washington for marriage,” said Mr Backholm.
“We also expect that Washington will join the other 32 states who have voted on this issue and conclude that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.”