In this Feb. 13, 2012 file photo, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, seated, raises her arms as legislators and supporters cheer behind her after she signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage, in Olympia, Wash. Voters approved a new law in November to legalize gay marriage. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Gregoire and Secretary of State Sam Reed will certify the election on Wednesday afternoon in Olympia. The law doesn't actually take effect until Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors' offices. King and Thurston Counties will open the earliest of any of the counties, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that marriage certificates can be signed at a wedding or ceremony, making the marriage valid, is Sunday.
Last month, 54 percent of voters approved Referendum 74, which had asked for people to approve or reject the state law legalizing same-sex marriage that legislators passed earlier this year. That law was signed by Gregoire in February but was put on hold pending the outcome of the election.
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