Rural Snohomish County voters largely rejected Referendum 71

Published 11:25 pm Friday, November 20, 2009

You can pretty much draw a line through Snohomish County to see where Referendum 71 went from winning to losing among a majority of voters.

Start in Tulalip and follow I-5 south to the King County border and you’ll find most voters approving the law that will expand rights of same-sex couples when the election is certified next month.

In Marysville and communities north and east of there, the electorate rejected it — with the exceptions of Snohomish and Index — according to a breakdown of ballot results by precinct.

Overall, Referendum 71 is being approved in Snohomish County 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent, a smaller margin of success than it is enjoying statewide.

Referendum 71 let voters approve or reject the law that puts those in registered domestic partnerships on par with married couples in the eyes of the state. The law covers same-sex couples and senior couples in which one partner is at least 62 years old.

County residents won’t be surprised by the way they break down.

Historically, more socially conservative voters reside in the rural areas while those in and near the most populated cities — especially King County emigres settling in South County — display liberal tendencies.

Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, who actively campaigned for the ballot measure’s approval, said this urban-rural schism is evident throughout the state.

“There are some lessons you can draw from our county that will help to understand what is happening across the state,” he said.

It means those who want to make marriage legal for gay and lesbian couples will need to do a better job explaining why to those living in less populated communities throughout Washington where the referendum is losing, he said.

Liias doesn’t have a concern in his hometown. Edmonds proved to be one of the strongest cells of support for Referendum 71. The latest results show it ahead in all 52 precincts with 9,034 voters approving it and 5,566 rejecting it.

It is being approved in Mukilteo, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood, too.

Everett voters also are behind the law, though it is getting rejected in roughly 40 percent of the city’s 95 precincts. Last week’s vote tally showed it ahead 10,248 to 8,897.

Just north, in Marysville, voters are turning it down by the largest margin, 4,579 to 3,605.

It is not passing in Lake Stevens, Monroe and Sultan.

In Arlington, which was the epicenter of the campaign against the referendum, voters were rejecting it, too.

The city is home to Larry Stickney, a leader of Protect Marriage Washington, the group that sponsored the ballot measure in order to put the fate of the law in the hands of the electorate. Roughly 58 percent of voters in the city rejected the new law.

Stickney said north Snohomish County is populated with conservatives who attend “Bible believing churches” and that they proved a fount of support. He also said the campaign ran ads on cable television stations in the area, which might have boosted their effort.

“They are holding onto a way of life they believe is right,” he said.

“The battle is not over. There are those of us licking our wounds who will be back again as the fight goes on.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.