- Another day of Washington election results trickling in will mean a few more solidified races in the next hours. The state is promising daily updates by 5p each day. The county says to expect 90,000 more ballots counted tonight — sometime in a fuzzy four-hour window starting later this afternoon. The bulk of bubbled ballots won’t be accounted for until Friday. And it’s looking possible the race for governor might stretch out even longer. We’ll update this post as the new numbers come in.
- As we reported earlier, Washington United for Marriage declared victory for R74 on Wednesday:
After crunching numbers throughout the night, Washington United for Marriage (WUM), the broad coalition which built an historic statewide campaign, from a record-setting donor base to an unprecedented GOTV effort, all to defend the freedom to marry, today announced that Referendum 74 will be approved by voters…
The Slog talked to Capitol Hill State Representative Jamie Pedersen about the logistics around some of the more complicated issues surrounding gay marriage in the state with R74’s approval. We wrote about some of the more basic issues and dates to watch for here — When R74 passes: a guide to your belated Capitol Hill gay marriage
The big date to watch for is December 6th when the county can start to issue licenses for same-sex marriage. County Exec Dow Constantine says staff will be ready for a wave of eager couples: “We expect large numbers of applicants for marriage licenses in those first few days, so our King County Recorder’s Office will be open for extended hours for the issuance of marriage licenses on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 6 and 7, and even on Saturday, Dec. 8.”
The County Recorder offers more detail:
The King County Recorder’s Office is making plans for the first day of marriage equality in Washington State. If Referendum 74 is certified as passed by the voters, the first day that marriage licenses can be issued to same-sex couples will be Thursday, Dec. 6. The first day that licenses could be used is three days later, Sunday, Dec. 9.
The Recorder’s Office will open for extended hours on Thursday, Dec. 6, as well as Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8. We are still firming up details of the plan for those first three days, including hours of operation. We will NOT be open on Sunday, Dec. 9, and we will NOT be able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples until Dec. 6.
You’ll probably want to keep that Sunday clear on your calendar.
- Have you checked the status of your ballot to make sure your vote was counted?
- How is a street party born? This newly released CHS video from contributor Sebastian Garrett-Singh reveals the election night celebration sparking into life Tuesday. Enjoy.
