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Judge: Ruling on Doe v. Reed R-71 disclosure case in 2 weeks

Judge: Ruling on Doe v. Reed R-71 disclosure case in 2 weeks

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle says he will rule within two weeks on a request from gay-marriage foes that he permanently seal Referendum 71 petitions from public access.  Settle didn’t indicate how he will rule, but did say at one point from the bench Monday that the record submitted by challengers is “devoid” of direct evidence of harassment that could result if the petitions are released. Katie Blinn, state co-director of elections, said following a hearing in Tacoma that she’s…

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Reed, McKenna optimistic about R-71 case

Reed, McKenna optimistic about R-71 case

Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed emerged from the U.S. Supreme Court today optimistic that the high court will allow Washington and other states to treat initiative and referendum petitions as releasable public records. McKenna, making his third appearance before the court, and Reed, the state’s chief elections officer, both said they counted a majority of the justices who seemed sympathetic to Washington’s argument that the vote-approved Public Records Act requires release of petitions to those…

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‘Looming over gay-rights vote’: Disclosure debate

‘Looming over gay-rights vote’: Disclosure debate

Washington’s hot ballot measure dealing with domestic partnerships, Referendum 71, is getting national media attention, along with Maine, which is voting on actual gay marriage.  But in Washington, the debate is sometimes eclipsed by a legal and public relations war over whether the R-71 petitions should be released as a public record, or kept confidential. The New York Times’ William Yardley visited this disclosure battle in a Sunday newspaper piece ,calling the dispute a collision of “privacy, free speech and elections in…

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State fights for disclosure of R-71 petitions

State fights for disclosure of R-71 petitions

The state Elections Division soon heads to federal court to try to clear the way for public release of Referendum 71 petitions. Deputy Solicitor General James Pharris, who represents the Secretary of State, has filed the state’s response  to the continuing effort by R-71 sponsors to block disclosure of voters who signed their petitions. The sponsors, Protect Marriage Washington, asserting First Amendment rights and seeking protection against potential harassment or harm to signers, obtained a temporary order on July 29…

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