Referendum Petition Signatures Unusual

Opponents of Montgomery County's inclusion of gender identity in its anti-discrimination law claim to have collected enough signatures to petition the law to referendum. But have they?

"Citizens for a Responsible Government" (a.k.a. "Citizens who Make Irresponsible False Claims about Legislation") states that they have collected 32,087 signatures. Since 25,000 signatures from registered voters are needed to petition a law to referendum, it would appear they have enough signatures.

Except that the validation rate for signatures is normally 70%, and 70% of 32,087 is well under 25,0000. The law further requires that 12,500 of the 25,000 signatures be submitted by February 4 with the remainder due by February 19. Of the 15,462 signatures turned in on February 4, 13,476 were validated by the Board of Elections--a validation rate of 87%.

Sounds like someone needs to take a second look at the petitions to see if all the signatures were properly validated and met the requirements. Either the referendum opponents were incredibly skilled in their collection efforts or the signatures have not yet been examined rigorously. I imagine supporters of the legislation will try to find out in order to prevent a vote on the law.