In one highly anticipated victory for gay-rights groups the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the secretary of state to release the names and addresses of everyone that signed Referendum 71, which would repeal the domestic partnership law in Washington. Ironically, it was the Republican state attorney general that scored the victory, not just for gay rights groups, but for a case that, if it stands, will maintain election transparency all over the nation. The article is here.
This could provide answers into how the group was able to gather tens of thousands of signatures in the final weeks. It also will allow individuals, outside of the secretary of state’s office, to analyze the legitimacy of voters and signatures on the petitions. Signatures that were accepted once by election workers were never reviewed again. Rejected signatures were reviewed multiple times until a signature was determined to be a matcher to the one on file or a voter registration was found that most likely matched the name of the signer. Sometimes petition signers may use different first names, nicknames or reverse first and last names.
Were the signatures on Ref. 71 valid voters? We may soon find out.
More info from The Stranger is here.
