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Protect Marriage Washington is the misnamed organization out to repeal Washington State’s new domestic partnership law via Referendum 71. Cindy Honcoop is on the Protect Marriage Washington Board of Directors, but while others work, Cindy has been known to vacate and Twitter. And now, as her colleagues feverishly burn rubber crossing the state to deliver the long-overdue referendum petitions, Cindy picks up her fiddle.
# Another cool thot from a twitterer – “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.” ~Old Chinese Proverb
about 13 hours ago from web
Why tempting ‘thots’ of quitting? Maybe it has something to do with the dismal donation rates. The Public Disclosure Commission says that Protect Marriage Washington has only raised $2,072. And carpetbagger Gary Randall’s Faith and Freedom PAC (“exclusively committed” to Ref 71, except it’s not) has only received a piddly $1,994.51 in contributions. Ouch. Printing and distributing 60,000 petitions with 100+ page long bill attachments will drain those funds pretty quickly. No wonder Gary was diverting donations to his non-PAC accounts – must protect the paycheck! Wouldn’t want to spend that dough on a referendum nobody wants. And I mean nobody.
Incidentally, although Cindy is a dedicated tweeter, she still hasn’t bothered to sign up to follow PMW’s Twitters. I wonder if Cindy was really ever wholeheartedly on board with this referendum thing.
Cross-posted at Washblog.
19 Comments
Oo, I forgot about having to include a copy of the bill!That was a BIG piece of text, and state law requires that each and every referendum petition include the FULL text of the bill. Initiatives, too; I had trouble fitting the text of I-957 on the back and it was pretty short. One hundred pages? Excuse me a moment….
(Insert ROFLMAO smiley here)
I would really like to see what one of those petitions looks like, much less inquire of a signature gatherer how many of those damned things he needs to carry around to make his daily quota.
And it seems like even as a fundraiser, Ref 71 has been a dismal failure. Good.
Watch out, Lurleen!Ole Larry is now up to 18 “twits”!
I wonder if they’re actually using the 100+ pages?… Somehow, I doubt that these “marriage protectors” are actually using the full 100+ page petitions. And that bugs me since – if they’re not using the 100+ page petitions appropriately – then that means they’re cheating the system. I can’t stand haters. Can’t they see that being homophobic is not cool? Why must people hate?
My understanding isthat by Washington State law, the are required to print all 115 or so pages of text on the single back page of the petition & I don’t think the AG issued any kind of waver. So the petition should be a small billboard folded several times. If not, the paper itself is a violation.
I personally am looking forward to bringing my magnifying glass to the signature gatherer to unfold and read it before I decline to sign.
Yeah, Larry’s friends Pinkomomma and LthrDaddynot to mention MassTransitNow and a randy pit bull – they’re all hanging on his every monosyllable, lol!
right.by law the entire text must be printed on a single page (dimensions not specified) on the back of EACH petition sheet.
The law is 112 pages longdouble spaced, with about 35 lines per page on 8-1/2 x 11 pages, in 12 pt type (I think). Similar to a court transcript. I can print “condensed” court transcripts so that four pages show up on one and still be quite legible. This is done by making lines single spaced and making the type smaller. It saves paper and the result is still legible. Each petition page is supposed to be 11×17, so it’s possible to fit eight pages onto one 11×17 page. They might be able to do it on both sides of an 17×44 sheet of paper that is folded to 11×17. Difficult but still doable.
11 by 17 is the minimum size, not the only sizePetitions can be bigger, if necessary. However, each petition must have room for 20 and only 20 signatures.
Actually, single sheet, not single pageThe idea is that every person who signs has the opportunity to read the proposed law in full. If the text is short enough to put it completely on the front, it can legally be put on the front. Starting on the front and continuing on the back is legal too, as is putting the whole text on just the back; the only requirement is that the ENTIRE text is available and readable on every petition.
Oops, what I wrote above is incorrectI looked up the current Initiatives and Referenda Manual from the Washington Secretary of State’s website. The minimum size is 11 inches wide and 14 inches long. 11 x 17 is very common, though, because it is a commercially available size of paper.
new topical post by the secretary of statethe sos blog today says this, in part
Here is how we can work a “decline to sign” campaignOffer to sign the petition. Then start perusing the text of the bill. Have a friend or two stop by, and they do the same thing. Then a few more friends. Eventually, everyone has a petition except the signature gatherer. Then you all return the petitions, unsigned, saying that you will “think about it.” As A shift leaves, B shift starts filtering in, then C, then A again. Repeat until you get bored, then go out for margaritas.
Even ifthey smash it down to 6pt type, kerned to
1 and leaded to the point where the text is crashing it would still have to me a massive document with massive printing costs. 20 signatures per . .we’re talking newsprint, of which there are only 4or-5 who take outside work capable in the state.I WILL say, that although I think this is funnier than heck, it may come back to bite us in the ass when we’re out there printing our own petitions in the next equality ref.
okay weirdI didn’t use the strike out . .how did that happen?
Diverting donationsWouldn’t it be fraud to divert donations for Ref. 71 to non-PAC accounts?
Guy in SFThis is what Lurleen has been blogging about for a long time now. It’s not clear, but it most certainly smells of fraud.
Yes, it is. Felony fraud, if memory serves n/t
picture of the petitionhere
Wow, that’s a crazy long and big petition sheet… thanks for posting this picture and link, Lurleen! I’m almost surprised they were able to shrink it all down to that, but still, it’s super cumbersome.