On March 27, some voters in San Juan County, Washington, won a procedural victory in State Superior Court in White v Reed. This is a lawsuit arguing that San Juan County should not print unique barcodes on ballots because they could conceivably be used to violate secrecy in voting. The Court ruled that the plaintiffs, who are associated with the Green Party, do have standing. The Court also ruled that the barcodes are considered part of “voting system software” and cannot be used unless the state certifies the program that produces the bar codes.

There is still no decision on the issue of whether use of the barcodes could violate ballot secrecy. That will probably require a trial, and the Superior Court Judge postponed that until San Juan County and the Secretary of State have an opportunity to try to reverse the procedural ruling. The case is White v Reed, 10-2-05002-8. The decision relies partly on Bush v Gore. One of the arguments the plaintiffs make is that they are not treated equally because their county uses bar codes and most counties in Washington state do not.