FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
State election offices aren't expected to release anymore numbers until early evening, but Washington United for Marriage is declaring victory on Referendum 74.
“This is a clear win,” said WUM campaign manager Zach Silk in a press release. “We have run the numbers every which way, and we can now confidently say that we have won.”
Currently 60 percent of the state's votes are counted and Ref. 74 is leading by 52 percent — 65 percent in King County.
According to the WUM press release, “Simply put, it’s now impossible for opponents to overcome the 52-48% spread for R74.”
In a statement released by Preserve Marriage Washington, however, the uncounted ballots could be key in rejecting the measure.
“We’ve known all along that this would be an extremely close race, and it has proven to be a race that will go down to wire,” said PMW Chairman Joseph Backholm in a press release. “We understand the math is challenging, but there remains a path to victory for us. Everyone needs to respect the process and wait for the ballots to be counted.”
Election offices statewide are expected to begin announcing ballot updates around 4 p.m.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
