Referendum 71, which will put the state's domestic partnership law to a statewide vote, has qualified for the November ballot, the AP's Rachel La Corte reports .

The secretary of state's office said Monday that sponsors of Referendum 71 had 121,486 valid petition signatures — enough to put the newly expanded domestic partnership law to a public vote.

A secondary check of rejected signatures was not complete, so the number could increase.

The new law was supposed to take effect July 26 but was delayed until the signature count was complete. Now, it won't take effect unless it is approved in the Nov. 3 election.

According to the Washington secretary of state's office , the final margin is the closest in recent history. The final recap of today's votes will be posted later this afternoon, and Secretary of State Sam Reed is expected to certify the signatures Wednesday morning.

"I think the citizens of Washington can be confident that great care was taken to get the process right.  I know there has been litigation from both sides, but we can be sure that the process worked just as well as we could make it, without bias for or against either side," Reed said in a statement.