Americans can control how public they wish to be with their politics. Voting is a private process; the government does not release information on how an individual votes. Those who choose to can stand on a street corner waving a sign supporting a candidate or ballot measure.
Donating money to a candidate or measure generally decreases one’s privacy. That information must be provided to the state government and is available to whoever seeks it.
Signing an initiative petition should be a fairly private matter. Doing so simply means the signer would like to see the matter decided by voters, and does not necessarily indicate how they will vote.
That could change soon.
Protect Marriage in Washington is sponsoring Referendum 71. It wants the public to have the chance to overturn a law passed in the last legislative session that broadens domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, what some have dubbed the “everything but marriage” act. A group called WhoSigned.org wants to make public the names of those who sign petitions for Referendum 71.
Brian Murphy, the leader of WhoSigned.org, announced this week he plans to post the names of signers on the group’s website. He is mulling whether to also post their street address, or perhaps just their city and zip code.
Murphy claims his intent is not to harass anyone; rather his group simply wants to make it easier for supporters of the new law to have a conversation with those who may oppose it.
Nonsense. Clearly Murphy wants to discourage people from signing.
To its credit, the official campaign opposing Referendum 17, Washington Families Standing Together, has publicly stated its opposition to WhoSigned.org’s plan and has asked Murphy not to go forward with it.
When gay marriage or domestic partnerships are in the spotlight, emotions can run high. Generally when the rhetoric or tactics get ugly and veer outside the bounds of civilized public discourse, the culprits are on the right – people and groups that support the traditional view of marriage as being reserved for one man and one woman.
Apparently some gay rights activists want to adopt the politics of intimidation and harassment. That is unfortunate. Opponents of Referendum 17 can support the rights of same-sex couples by participating in acceptable forms of expression. Infringing on the privacy of those who may disagree with them does not help the cause.
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