This morning, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the anti-gay activists who've been whining that the state unfairly tossed out signatures from their initiative petition, which--had they collected enough valid signatures--would have put the new domestic partnership law on hold until the voters had a chance to weigh in this November.

The court wrote:

Plaintiffs, Oregon voters who signed Referendum 303, appeal the district court's denial of permanent injunctive relief against Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury ("Secretary"). The Secretary determined that Referendum 303, which sought a statewide vote on a legislative act establishing same-sex domestic partnerships, did not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Plaintiffs contend that the Secretary's procedures for verifying referendum petition signatures violated their equal protection and due process rights. The district court held that no constitutional violations occurred. We affirm.

Which means that vote isn't going to happen, so the domestic partnership law--which went into effect in February, after an initial court ruling in the state's favor--is safe for now.

With at least one of anti-gay groups behind the effort lacking cash, it's unclear if they'll make an effort next year to repeal the law (their only option now that it's in place; the early effort was technically a 'referral' before the law took effect). Otherwise, I suppose they could appeal the case to the Supreme Court...