Friday, August 28, 2009

R-71 Controversy Heightens With Lawsuit

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A lawsuit was filed yesterday in King County Superior Court to keep R-71 off the November ballot, regardless of how many signatures are validated by the Secretary's office.

The suit has been assigned to Judge Julie Spector, who is openly homosexual.

The Public Disclosure Commission yesterday rejected our request to seal the names of donors to Protect Marriage Washington. They said they saw no danger in making the names public.

And we are coming down to the last few days in verifying the petition signatures for R-71.

A homosexual rights political advocacy group, Washington Families Standing Together, filed a lawsuit yesterday against Secretary of State Sam Reed.

They are alleging that Reed has accepted thousands of signatures that were not in compliance with the law.

One of their allegations is that Reed has accepted signatures from people who were not registered voters when they signed the petition form.

Essentially, they are accusing many of us of signing the petition then registering to vote after the fact. I know that is not true. Absolutely not true. However, they will find it difficult, even if that were the case, to prove it because the petition signatures are not dated.

They are also alleging that Reed accepted, "thousands of signatures on petitions," that were improperly filled out.

The Seattle Times correctly quoted me this morning saying that this is simply a last ditch effort on their part. It is becoming apparent that if numbers hold, R-71 will qualify for the ballot. More on that in a moment. I have also included a link to a KOMO news article.

A deep concern that we have is that Judge Julie Spector is openly homosexual and activist. She is found on a list of openly homosexual elected officials. In her campaign to be elected to her seat in 2000, she was quoted in the September 13, 2000, edition of the Seattle Weekly, calling herself a "dyke".

It is impossible to believe an openly homosexual activist judge could rule fairly in this case. We are considering our next step.

Apparently, the homosexual activists are convinced that R-71 will make the ballot and the public, given the chance to express themselves, will repeal what the law makers have done to advance the homosexual agenda.

I agree with them. If people properly understand what economic and cultural impact SB 5688 will have over the next several decades, they will reject it with their vote. They will defend marriage.

The key, going forward, is to be able to fight this horrendous battle and educate the public regarding this matter.

The homosexual rights groups have already raised $89,000 to fight us. That amount will grow expedentially. We have, it appears, with God's help and a few dollars, been able to mobilize tens of thousands of people across the state, working with a coalition of faith based organizations, shock both the press and the homosexual rights activists. One reporter actually referred to this as "a miracle" in a conversation with me.

If you believe what we are doing is worthy and you support the defense of marriage, this our time. There will not be a "better" or more "convenient" time in the future as some have suggested. Senators Swecker, Stevens, Holmquist and Representatives Shea, McCune, Klippert and others have affirmed this both to their colleagues in the Legislature and to the public. This is the time.

Your donation today is urgent. I cannot overstate the importance and urgency of your financial support. I know you understand that. Click here to make an online donation.

All donations given to the Faith and Freedom PAC are used for direct expenses in advancing R-71. All income is spent directly on printing, mailing, internet promotion and going forward, media ads and expenses, rather than salaries or consulting fees.

The Faith and Freedom PAC board consists of Gary Randall, Richard Wilson, Sen. Dan Swecker, Rep. Matt Shea, Rep. Jim McCune and Larry Stickney.

We stand at a cultural crossroads. Decisions made today will impact you, your children and grandchildren for decades to come. And it will affect what your children and grandchildren are taught in the public school classroom.

Much hangs in the balance.

As Referendum 71 is, God willing, placed on the ballot, there will be much work to do over the next couple of months. The PAC will be directly advocating the rejection of SB 5688 on the ballot, while the non-profit Faith and Freedom Foundation will be educating the public regarding this issue.

Thank you for standing with us.

Yesterday the Public Disclosure Commission rejected our request to seal the names of donors to Protect Marriage Washington. Although there have been a number of threats made against people active in this campaign, including a published death threat against me and Larry Stickney, they concluded there was no direct threat to the donors.

A Temporary Restraining Order which orders the Secretary of State to not release the names of those who signed the R-71 petition, remains in affect until September 3---next Thursday. At that time the judge will rule on the matter.

Today's report from the Secretary's office on the signature validation progress is showing that nearly 111,000 signatures have been approved. Last night's tally shows the error rate has moved downward from 11.85% on Wednesday to 11.81% on Thursday. The Secretary's office says they expect to complete the process by next Tuesday. We cannot have an error rate greater than 12.4% to make the ballot.

Thank you for standing with us in these historic times.

God bless you.

_____________
Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom

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