Wash. judge to rule Wednesday on challenge to R-71

A judge says she'll decide Wednesday whether to block a public vote on expanded domestic partnership benefits in Washington state.

King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector is expected to rule even as Secretary of State Sam Reed certified the measure for the November ballot Wednesday morning in Olympia.

The so-called "everything but marriage" law was supposed to take effect in July. But conservative Christians mounted a referendum campaign, and Reed says they have more than the 120,000 signatures necessary to force a public vote.

Supporters of the law sued to keep Referendum 71 off the ballot. They argued that thousands of signatures were invalid because declarations attesting that voters were not paid or wrongly induced to provide their signatures were left blank or simply rubber-stamped.

Spector heard arguments on Monday. Reed's office says the judge doesn't have jurisdiction, and that any challenge must be brought in Thurston County after the measure is certified.