Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown announced today that Oregon will be the 18th state to join Washington in a Supreme Court appeal to keep names and addresses on petitions public record.

The appeal stems from a court decision in Washington State that made public the names and addresses of the 138,000 people who signed petitions to put Referendum 71 (a statewide referendum on domestic-partner rights) on the ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court decided to accept the case in January.

"In order for the public to have confidence that initiatives end up on the ballot legally and without fraud, it has to be an open process," said Brown spokesman Don Hamilton. "If these petitions are secret, then it becomes very difficult for the public to know that the process has been fair and to know who was behind the efforts to put laws in front of voters."

With regard to the main concern among opponents of Washington's court decision—that making the names and addresses of people who sign petitions public would open them up to discrimination—Hamilton said he doesn't feel that risk outweighs the benefits of a more open government.

"Oregon has had no history of that [discrimination] whatsoever," he said.