Panel May Rule on Release of Referendum 71 Petition Signers' Names in Next Few Days

The dicey question over whether the Secretary of State can release the names and addresses of those who signed petitions to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot is now in the hands of the three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ref 71 will ask voters on Nov. 3 to either approve or reject the state's latest expansion of the domestic partnership law, which grants marriage-like benefits to registered gay and some senior couples. Attorneys for protect Marriage Washington, which gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot, told the three-judge panel that petition signatures are protected free speech under the First Amendment and as such should be shielded from public release. Full Story from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2010065743_the_dicey_question_over_whethe.html

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