Can not save a selected value in custom Contact Reference type fields

Three issues with Contact Reference type custom fields ...

1. As of svn r28974 (and also in 3.2.0 tagged release version) I can not save a form with a contact reference field. Even though I've selected a contact from the drop-down, when I submit the form I get a form validation error (see attached screenshot): "Select a valid contact for Referred By."

NOTE: The problem does not occur every time . I tried 4 times to save existing contact records w/ a value selected in a custom Contact Reference field which I added to the Constituent Info custom data set. Worked 2, failed twice. Can't find a pattern yet ...but on the failures there seems to clearly be a "value" in the field. I've also pasted a copy of the HTML for the input tag from Firebug after the validation error is thrown. Not sure if the string in the value="" attribute is what we're expecting ??

<input type="text" class="form-text error ac_input" id="custom_9_-1" value="Adams, Chetan :: adamschetan@npo.net" name="custom_9_-1" autocomplete="off">