Referendum 71 margin of approval increases slightly

The narrow lead in votes to approve Referendum 71 widened slightly with the latest tally released by the Secretary of State's Office.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, about 51.65 percent of votes counted thus far were to approve R-71 and 48.35 percent were to reject it.

The Secretary of State's Office estimates about 600,000 ballots statewide are still outstanding, with about 300,000 of them expected from King County, where the measure is being approved by about 2 to 1.

"King remains the big dog," said spokesman Dave Ammons.

This morning's statewide tally showed 51.01 percent were approving the measure and 48.99 were rejecting it.

The measure would provide additional marriage-like benefits to the state's registered same-sex and some senior domestic partners.

Its strongest support has come from King County, where 66.59 percent of the votes were to approve it and 33.41 percent were to reject it as of Wednesday afternoon.

While supporters of the measure were optimistic of a win, both sides said it was too close to call.