Oregon Public Broadcasting

The legal battle over initiative and referendum petitions in Washington state continues.

Wednesday two courts heard separate, but similar cases: one in Olympia, the other in California. The upshot for now: Washington's Secretary of State is blocked from releasing copies of petitions to the public. Austin Jenkins reports.

At issue in both cases is whether the petitions Washington voters sign to put measures on the ballot are a public record.

Or does voter privacy trump the public's right to see the petitions? In the latest case, initiative king Tim Eyman is suing to stop the release of petitions from several of his initiatives going back ten years

A judge in Olympia has now granted a Temporary Restraining Order.

In the second case, Protect Marriage Washington went to federal court to block the release of Referendum 71 petitions.

That's the measure on next month's ballot to accept or reject Washington's latest gay domestic partnership law. Initiative and Referendum backers argue that voter names, addresses and signatures should be protected.

Secretary of State Sam Reed believes the petitions are subject to the state's robust public records law.