Utah Supreme Court Says State Must Accept E-Signatures

06.22.2010 by Jeff Robinson

Farley Anderson

(KCPW News) The state of Utah should have accepted electronic signatures submitted by an independent candidate for governor to be on the ballot this November.  That’s according to a Utah Supreme Court ruling issued today in favor of candidate Farley Anderson.  He calls it a historic occasion.

“The state of Utah leads the nation as the first state to utilize electronic signatures in support of the petition process,” he said outside the Matheson Courthouse.  “This is a win for everyone in our state, and we’re setting a precedence for the entire nation to follow.”

As an independent candidate for governor, Anderson was required to submit 1,000 signatures on a nominating petition to be put on the ballot.  But the Lieutenant Governor rejected his petition, because a small portion of the signatures he submitted were gathered electronically.

Darcy Goddard is legal director for the ACLU of Utah, which helped Anderson argue his case.

“The court today made it abundantly clear that the lieutenant governor was wrong when he did that, and that Mr. Anderson was in fact entitled to collect and submit e-signatures in support of his nominating petition to be included on the general election ballot,” she said.

Assuming the state complies with the ruling, Anderson will now be on the ballot this November.  Although the sponsors of the Utahns for Ethical Government initiative filed a brief in support of his case, the court’s ruling does not directly apply to ballot initiatives.