Dear Friend,

It was just September 2nd that Referendum 71 qualified for the ballot.  In that short period of time, supporters like you put in what seems like several lifetimes of work -- pledging your vote to approve 71, writing letters to the editor, donating generously and often, phone banking, canvassing, distributing literature, changing your Facebook picture to include the Approve 71 logo, bringing in cookies, answering the phone, changing your voice mail message and email signature, waving signs on overpasses and giving us your encouragement every step of the way.
 
Because of you, Washington will soon become the first state in the nation to affirmatively vote to support domestic partnership benefits.  We will have to patiently wait for final returns as ballots arrive at county elections offices over the next few days. About 50,000 ballots were tabulated in King County’s 4:30 pm count today, leaving just under 300,000 or so for King County still to count based on their projected turnout. For the ballots counted by King County today, Approve was 70%.  Tens of thousands of votes are still remaining to be counted in other counties where Referendum 71 is winning.

These results will be a win not just for the couples and families, but for all Washingtonians who believe in fairness and equality.

Together we built a broad coalition of over  280 non-profit allies, labor unions and associations, 150 members of clergy, and 50 congregations and Faith organizations , small businesses and large employers such as Nike, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft, and Group Health, and newspapers across the state spoke eloquently in support of Referendum 71.

There is simply no way we could have done it without you. To everybody involved with the Approve 71 campaign, a very heartfelt THANK YOU!