Wash. gay partnership foes try to shield signers

OLYMPIA — State officials won’t resist a temporary restraining order that would block public release of petition signatures for a gay-partnership referendum. The case centers on Referendum 71, which would ask voters to approve or reject expanded partnership rights for gay couples. The names of everyone who signed R-71 petitions are publicly available under open-government laws. A gay-rights group is planning to post all the names online, so partnership supporters can talk to those people about the referendum. But the R-71 campaign says that could lead to harassment. So they’re asking a federal judge to keep the petitions secret, until they can make their argument in court. Elections officials expect a full hearing on the merits of the complaint.