On October 3, a U.S. District Court Judge in Washington state heard oral arguments in Doe v Reed, the case over whether people who sign referendum petitions may block their names and addresses from being put up on a web page run by opponents of that petition. See this story. This case has already been to the U.S. Supreme Court and back down again. The U.S. Supreme Court said in general that there is no privacy right for voters who sign petitions, but there may still be a privacy right if the signers can show they are subject to harassment if their names and addresses are made public.

The judge indicated he is likely to rule in two weeks whether the names and addresses should be released. The petition involved whether or not to suspend a law passed by the legislature that permitted civil unions for same-sex couples.