the "blank lines" simply mean that there's no speficic referral (for instance, links putted directly on the browser bar, or links on emails.. different from linnks placed in other pages and clicked there)

so it is not a referral from the affiliate? why does it count as an affiliate referral? I want to know how to explain it to the affiliates so that they and i fully understand visitors coming to the site

no, it's not that.
yes it is a referral, it's just that some referrals do not include their "referral path" (because of the browser or whatever).

OR for instance if you input the URL directly in the browser, the referral path will always be empty (it's normal). it's nothing to worry about... if you have doubts about it, you can simply remove the column and avoid confusions...

i'm only asking because i have an affiliates who is asking me and i don't have an answer
if a person types the url in rather than click on the link an affiliate has posted (which creates a blank line) why would it show up as a referral for any of the affiliates? and what causes it to be one affiliate's referral rather than another?

Because it is still a referral if it includes the referral code (the "?atid=" part). it's not "any" link that is tracked, only the AFFILIATE links are..

ok, lets see if this is correct.
1. The referrals are posted.
2. A consumer clicks the link to get to the site and a referral shows up in the log for the affiliate
3. The consumer leaves the site
4. The consumer returns to the site via typing in the site address as opposed to clicking on the link using the same browser or ip address
5. Because the consumer is using the same browser or ip address when they visit the site other than clicking on the link it will still log as a referral for the affiliate with a blank line for the referrer
6. This will ensure that any return to site other than original link purchases will be assigned to the affiliate invited the consumer to the site.

is this an accurate explanation of why the referrer has links and blanks inside of an affiliates logs?

5. No. this referral will not be counted for the same user because it has already been stored (unless the user has emptied his cookies...)
6. number 5 was not correct, but this is correct, yes. the user is tracked because there's a cookie.

"blank referrals" are NO BIG DEAL, I think you are getting too much attention to it. Sometimes the browser does not send it correctly when clicking on a link, for example. this is really not important at all.. it's just "extra" information, it has NO EFFECT whatsoever no the tracking of clicks...