Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

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R-71 signers' names to remain secret, judge says

• Published September 10, 2009

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Secretary of State Sam Reed's office issued this statement on U.S. District Judge Ben Settle's ruling today that blocks the public release of signatures in the Referendum 71.

A Seattle group planned to put the names on a web site at whosigned.org.

I haven't seen the ruling itself, but Reed spokesman Brian Zylstra said:

"Our office has followed the state law that says referendum petitions are public records and thus should be made available upon request. We believe in open government and think the judge's decision is a step away from open government. While we are disappointed in the judge's decision, we respect it and will continue to withhold these petitions from public viewing unless there is a different ruling in the future. When people sign a referendum or initiative petition, they are trying to change state law. We believe that changing state law should be open to public view."

R-71 sponsors said in court documents they were afraid of harassment and reported incidents of harassment in promoting the measure, which forces a domestic partnership rights law onto the Nov. 3 ballot for ratification. R-71 sponsors, who are urging a no vote to reject the "everything but marriage" law, claim the measure will make it easier to win a court case that overturns the state's law that forbids same-sex marriages.

Open government activists are likely to denounce the ruling, which overturns a traditional presumption that signers' names are a public record.