Court Blocks Release of Names of Referendum Petition Signers

In Washington state, a group called Protect Marriage Washington obtained enough signatures on petitions to place Referendum-71 on this fall's ballot. The Secretary of State certified the referendum earlier this month. It seeks to overturn SB 5688, Washington's recently-enacted domestic partnership law. Two groups supporting gay rights, Whosigned.org and KnowThyNeighbor.org sought copies of the referendum petitions under Washington's Public Records Act, intending to post on the Internet the name and address of every petition signer, apparently with the intent to get gay rights supporters to contact the signers to complain. In John Doe #1 v. Reed, (WD WA, Sept. 10, 2009), a Washington federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against any public release of documents showing the names and contact information of individuals who signed petitions. The court concluded:

Plaintiffs have established that it is likely that supporting the referral of a referendum is protected political speech, which includes the component of the right to speak anonymously.... In light of the State’s own verification process and the State’s own case law, at this time the Court is not persuaded that full public disclosure of referendum petitions is necessary as "an important check on the integrity of the referendum election process." ... Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have established that it is likely that the Public Records Act is not narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling governmental interest of preserving the integrity of the referendum process.

AP reported on the decision on Friday. According to Friday's Seattle Times, Washington's Attorney General will appeal the decision to the 9th Circuit.