Approve means approve and reject means reject, doesn't it? Or is it the other way around? That's the head-scratching conundrum voters face with R-71, a referendum whose language could trip up those pushing for equality.
R-71 asks Washington voters to do something that, so far, hasn't happened anywhere else in the country: to ratify a state legislative decision on domestic partnerships, one that legally protects lesbian and gay couples, as well as senior citizens in committed relationships. This, for most, sounds like an easy decision: either yes or no. But the referendum's language has led to confusion for some voters on exactly what an approve vote or reject vote will lead to.
Here's how the referendum reads:
The legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.
Concise Description: This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage.
Should this bill be:
[ ] Approved
[ ] Rejected
R-71 was placed on the ballot by the Arlington-based Protect Marriage WA, a group that wants to overturn the state legislature's April 2009 vote to protect the rights of those in domestic partnerships. As of Oct. 19, the group had raised just over $208,000. Coupled with a second group, Vote Reject on R-71, those seeking to petition and thereby undo rights the state has already guaranteed had slightly more than $400,000 in their coffers.
This amount pales in comparison to moneys raised by those seeking to ratify -- and thereby approve -- the legislative decision. Thus far, Washington Families Standing Together has pulled in $1.5 million; the Human Rights Campaign has added $78,000 to the cause. But while the Approve R-71 campaigns have raised four times the money, polls don't give them a 4-to-1 lead.
A SurveyUSA poll, released early this month, found that 45 percent of voters will approve the measure, with 42 voting to reject; 13 percent admitted to being uncertain on how they'd vote. (The poll asked 548 likely voters.) These numbers represent a slight shift from an
Elway Poll, conducted in mid-September, which found 46 percent likely to approve and 41 planning to reject; again, 13 percent said they were undecided. (This poll questioned 405 potential voters.)
Stuart Elway, a pollster who's been following gay rights issues since at least 2004, admits that in crafting his questions for last month's poll, he had to read the referendum numerous times, to ensure he understood what voters were being asked. "It's not entirely clear if the 'bill' [as in the word used in the referendum] means the bill the legislature passed or the bill, the referendum," Elway says. (The term bill does indeed refer to the legislative bill.)
Elway has found that, in the past, while a majority of Washington voters tend to support the idea of civil unions and domestic partnerships, the ground appears to shift when the word "marriage" is invoked. Indeed, with some having nicknamed R-71 the "Everything but Marriage" law, the Elway Poll states that those voting to reject the referendum believe the law is about "homosexual marriage." Meanwhile, those who seek approval say it's about "domestic partnerships." (Though this latter group agrees it could be a step to marriage.)
When asked, "Are you voting to repeal the 'Everything but Marriage' law or to keep the 'Everything but Marriage' law?" at least 10 percent of voters were planning, unwittingly, to vote opposite their intention. Such a potential, he says, hurts those who favor civil union more than the other side. "It's depressing the pro-gay rights side of the ballot," he says.
But the poll, he cautions, won't predict which side will be victorious. Victory, he suggests, may lie with which side clears up the confusion over what an "approve" or "reject" vote means. In his opinion, the campaigns seeking to ensure the state protects all domestic partnerships should put their dollars toward erasing any confusion on the referendum: "The proponents of civil unions need to make sure people know how to vote," he says.
Which means they would be telling their supporters to approve R-71.