Signatures should be secret

Thu., Oct. 8, 2009

The Spokesman-Review

The Spokesman-Review recently printed a news item telling us that our attorney general is sending lawyers to California to argue that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverse the ruling of a federal judge in our state who had already ruled in favor of keeping petitions regarding Referendum 71 out of public view.

Nobody should be able to access petition lists to learn their neighbors’ political preferences. We must realize that the only reason these people want these lists opened up is so they can harass the signers of the petitions. There is no other reason to publish these signatures. It’s an invasion of our privacy and privacy over intimidation is our right when it comes to petitions as well as voting rights.

There is time to contact Attorney General Rob McKenna in regard to this.

Zola Ballenger

Spokane Valley

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