Washington state officials on Monday released copies of signature petitions that forced a vote on a 2009 domestic partnership law, disclosing the names of signers after a judge rejected arguments that supporters could be harassed.
The Washington State Archives provided a DVD to The Associated Press showing the 138,000 signatures for Referendum 71. The release came despite an attorney’s vow to appeal the ruling and seek temporary protection from the disclosure of names.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said in his ruling Monday morning that petitioners who advocated for privacy provided only a few experiences of indecent statements and other uncomfortable conversations. Also, there was only speculation that those incidents were connected to the issue, he said.
Settle said that if just a few instances of harassment were used as the standard for preventing the release of names, then disclosure would become the exception, rather than the rule.
Attorneys for the state and open government advocates had argued that disclosure was necessary to ensure there wasn’t fraud.
James Bopp Jr., an attorney pushing to keep the names private, said he planned to appeal and hoped to get a temporary ruling to prevent the immediate release of names.
Referendum 71 asked voters to approve or reject the state’s domestic partnership law, which granted registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples. It was approved with 53 percent of the vote.
Full-fledged gay marriage is still not allowed under Washington law. (AP)
