Statement from Approve R-74 on submission of signatures

 Responding to the submission of a claimed 240,000-plus signatures to the Secretary of State today, all but guaranteeing that Referendum 74 will face voters this Fall, Zach Silk, the campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage issued the following statement:

 “For us, there’s no news here.  We always knew our opponents would qualify for the ballot, and we know they paid hired canvassers to boost their count.  They can spin it however they want, but they clearly wouldn’t have paid out-of-pocket if they thought they could do it on their own.

“Whatever the final certified number is, it doesn’t matter.  This campaign is up and running and we know by independent poll numbers released last week that the overwhelming majority of Washingtonians do not want to overturn this law of fundamental fairness for all families.

“That’s why we’ll continue to build on the broad and diverse campaign we’ve created.  We are energized by the families who know that only marriage fully protects their children, by the parents who want all of their children to be able to marry the person they love, and by loving gay and lesbian couples who simply want to make that lifetime commitment to one another. Those are the values of the vast majority of people in this state and that’s why we believe we’ll ultimately win in November.”

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