Oregon Public Broadcasting

Voter petitions for Washington's Referendum 71 were improperly sealed. That's the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California.

The decision reverses a lower court ruling. It's a victory for Washington's Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, who believes voter petitions are a public record.

Sam Reed: “People who are signing these are basically sponsoring legislation to go on the ballot and so we believe it ought to open, public, transparent and so we will proceed as quickly as we can.”

Referendum 71 would affirm or reject Washington's "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law.

Reed's office has electronic copies of the R-71 petitions ready to go for the people who've requested them.

That includes a Seattle gay activist who has vowed to put the petitions on the Internet. But the records can't be released until a Thurston County judge lifts a separate restraining order.

That could happen very soon. So far no there's no reaction from the Reject 71 campaign – which sought to block the release of the petitions.