The Washington Secretary of State has halted its release of the names of people who signed petitions for Protect Marriage Washington to get Referendum 71 on the ballot. A judge on Monday ordered the names should be released, a ruling that was immediately appealed by Protect Marriage.
Pending a Monday hearing by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Secretary of State's Office has stopped releasing Referendum 71 petition names to the public after a religious conservative group filed an emergency motion with the court.
However, most of the names are out already:
The Secretary of State, which lauded the decision as a victory for transparency, began releasing DVDs of the petition signatures within hours of the ruling. By the end of the day Thursday it had already released 30 DVDs — with two pending, spokesman David Ammons said.
On the advice of the Attorney General, he said, the Secretary of State will suspend any further release until the court considers the emergency motion on Monday, he said.
