This just in! Anti-gay groups attempting to put Oregon's Domestic Partnership law on the Nov. 2008 ballot just found out that they failed to meet the required 55,179 signatures necessary.

When they turned in their supposed "63,000" signatures on Oregon's Domestic Partnership law they came proud and confident. On initial count it turned out they actually only had 60,531. Petitions then went to counties where they were further scrutinized.

As Basic Rights Oregon said, "The fact that they were unable to meet even this extremely low signature threshold shows how out of step they are with Oregon values."

From the Secretary of State:

The result of the signature verification is referendum #303 did not contain enough valid signatures to qualify to the ballot. Referendum #303 was filed on HB 2007 passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature.

The proposed referendum required 55,179 valid signatures to gain ballot access. The referendum contains 55,063 valid signatures, or 90.97% of the 60,531 total unverified signatures submitted for verification.

The fight isn't quite over though in two big ways.

First, we are still awaiting word on their attempt for a referendum on Oregon's Anti-Discrimination law. They also claimed 63,000 signatures on that one--though on initial count had a bit over 59,000. It looks to me like the attempt to force a public vote on Oregon's Anti-Discrimination law will also fail--but you never know.

Second, the extremist fringe groups have pledged a repeal if they failed the first time. They could announce their intent any day now and they would have until July 3, 2008 to collect over 82,000 signatures.

So to be clear - as of January 1, 2008 same-sex couples will be able to register as Domestic Partners!

Labels: domestic partnership, HB 2007, oregon

This entry was posted on Monday, October 08, 2007 at 4:24 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.