In an e-mail to supporters, Faith and Freedom Network president Gary Randall, said Secretary of State Sam Reed is succumbing to pressure by the "homosexual lobby" and speeding up the verification of signatures on Referendum 71.

That speed up, Randall said, is causing the error rate – the percentage of invalid signatures – to rise artificially.

"The hurry-up plan was put in place as the homosexual lobby discovered that the faster the checkers checked, the more names were discarded as not valid," Randall said. He said Reed has expressed bias against social issues and the bad effect they have on success by Republican candidates.

"The liberal culture of Olympia and the Secretary's office for the most part is, I believe, a factor and very well may be the deciding factor on whether R-71 makes the ballot," Randall said.

Backers of the referendum, which seeks to repeal recently expanded gay partnership rights, submitted 137, 689 signatures. And while they only need 120,577 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, every referendum campaign has signatures of people who aren't registered voter, whose signature doesn't match what is on file or who signed more than once. If there are too many invalid signatures – at least 17,113 – the measure won't make the ballot.

UPDATE: The Secretary of State's office sent this in response to my request for reaction:

"The Elections Division is pushing back, strongly defending their process as free of bias for either side, and asserting that checkers are using great care and diligence in checking each and every signature – checking and even double-checking and triple-checking in some cases to make sure the process is as fair and even-handed as possible. The check is taking an entire month."

Here is the link to the secretary of state's blog, which includes more detail about the signature verification process.

Here is Randall's e-mail:

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R-71 In Peril: State Wide Call to Action and Prayer

Referendum 71 is in danger of failing. Secretary of State Sam Reed's office is reporting this morning, that, "The signature count for Referendum 71 has surged to well over the halfway mark Tuesday, with 72,976 signatures processed---and a cumulative error rate edging upward to 11.32 percent."

"SURGE" is the operative word. Speed has replaced accuracy.
As the homosexual lobby has increased their pressure on the Secretary to "hurry up" on processing the signatures, the error rate has risen. We have consistently reported that as the speed of checking has been accelerated, the error rate has risen.

Please slow down, Sam.
The hurry-up plan was put in place as the homosexual lobby discovered that the faster the checkers checked, the more names were discarded as not valid. They began to put pressure on the Secretary a couple of weeks ago. He and his staff have responded, by setting arbitrary deadlines toward which they could surge, increasing the number of checkers, increasing the number of hours of checking and putting new policies in place which would hurry the process and result in an increase in the error rate.

The reasoning? I was told that with the possibility of a lawsuit and other pressing matters related to regular responsibilities, they needed to "get this completed."

Bias Is A Factor.
The liberal culture of Olympia and the Secretary's office for the most part is, I believe, a factor and very well may be the deciding factor on whether R-71 makes the ballot.
Secretary of State Sam Reed, in an op-ed piece in the Seattle Times, following the November 2008 election, urged the state and Republicans in particular to move away from social issues such as abortion and the marriage issue. He pointed to himself and Attorney General Rob McKenna as the only state wide Republican winners, suggesting social issues were losers for Republican politicians. He has been an avid supporter of the homosexual agenda. They have a friend in the Secretary.

Our volunteer observers, who are pastors, secretaries, doctors, tech experts, stay at home moms and any number of other people willing to give their time for something they believe in, have experienced a dismissive and often adversarial attitude from the staff and certainly from the homosexual activist's representatives in the office.

Just last night, Katie Blinn, from the elections office was taking pictures of our people. In that kind of environment, they, of course, were concerned what she was going to do with the pictures. When our people asked about it, they were told it is a public place and, "I can do what I want," and she proceeded to take more pictures.

It is common knowledge that there is a warm and in some cases, familial relationship between the elections office checkers and the observers representing the homosexual activists. This is something our people have addressed repeatedly. We have kept good records and journals.

Much hangs in the balance today.
This is a call to Prayer and a call to Action.
1. Please pray that Secretary Sam Reed and the public servants he employs, will have the integrity to carry out their duties on the R-71 count in a fair and honest way, as they are duty bound to serve all the citizens of the state.
2. Action. Please call or email the Secretary's office today. Tell him to, "Slow Down Sam." Ask him to please allow enough time for all signatures to be checked carefully and correctly. He owes you that. Be respectful, but firm. He and his office will assure you they have done elections for many years and they have great systems in place, etc., etc. and are fair. Assure him you expect nothing less on this issue and you feel you are not getting that at this point.
Secretary Of State Sam Reed
Email: sreed@secstate.wa.gov
Phone: 360-902-4151

Much hangs in the balance. Please forward this to everyone you know who care about marriage and want to defend it. Ask them to pray and call today.
God bless you.
Faith & Freedom Network
Gary Randall
President & Chairman
425-495-2270