Lawsuit filed to stop ‘wet signature’ rule for voter registration forms

Get Loud Arkansas (GLA), Vote.org, and two Arkansas voters, Nikki Pastor and Blake Loper, filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Arkansas on Wednesday (June 5) challenging the state’s new “wet signature rule,” which requires wet ink signatures on voter registration forms and directs counties to reject registration forms with electronic signatures.

Plaintiffs in the suit argue that GLA’s success in registering voters – particularly young and minority voters – prompted the provision for wet signatures. In early 2024, GLA launched an online tool on its website that allows prospective voters to fill out a registration application online and sign the application with an electronic signature.

In the complaint, plaintiffs argue there is no provision in state law that doesn’t allow for electronic signatures and that the wet signature requirement is a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

“Get Loud Arkansas’s work is rooted in our unwavering, audacious commitment that every voice in every corner of our state will be heard at the ballot box. We will face down any act of suppression that creates roadblocks to the fundamental right to vote. Generational disenfranchisement must be relegated to the past, where it belongs,” said GLA Executive Director and former State Sen. Joyce Elliott.

Voters who used the tool authorized GLA to print and submit the completed application to county clerks. On at least three separate occasions, Arkansas Secretary of State’s John Thurston assured GLA that its process was permissible, and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has previously said electronic signatures are valid under Arkansas law, the lawsuit said.

When media outlets reported that hundreds of voters successfully registered with GLA’s assistance in just a few short months, the Secretary of State abruptly reversed course and advised county officials to reject applications with electronic signatures, the groups said.

Vote.org, a national voter registration platform, has helped register tens of thousands of Arkansas voters over the past several years through user-friendly online tools. These tools are especially important for underserved communities who often do not have reliable access to printers and therefore cannot provide a wet signature.

“Voter suppression advocates in Arkansas and all across the country are shamefully trying to rig the rules of the game against their own voters. But they should know better than to think they can bully voters without facing any resistance. This wet signature mandate is a direct assault on the convenient, secure, and reliable online voter registration tools that so many voters of all backgrounds rely upon. This isn’t just an isolated issue – it’s a problem for everyone as a handful of individuals seek to consolidate power instead of allowing voters to have a voice. We must stand together to protect our democratic processes and ensure every voter can participate without undue barriers,” said Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org.

“Arkansas has the lowest voter registration rate in the country at only 62 percent, with young and Black voters registered at even lower rates. And its election officials continue to reject new applicants, including Plaintiffs Nikki Pastor and Blake Loper, simply because they signed their form with the ‘wrong’ instrument—a meaningless technicality that creates unlawful barriers to the franchise and obstructs the efforts of civic organizations like Plaintiffs GLA and Vote.org that use innovative technology to promote civic engagement. Simply put, Arkansas has erected an arbitrary restriction that is irrelevant in determining voter qualifications but has denied eligible citizens the right to vote,” the complaint argues.

“Nothing in Arkansas law prohibits the use of online tools to complete and sign registration applications. In fact, both the Arkansas Attorney General and Secretary of State confirmed as much multiple times in recent months. Yet, instead of applauding organizations like GLA and Vote.org for their admirable commitment to increasing civic engagement, the State Board of Election Commissioners abruptly issued an emergency rule shutting down online tools that provide an easily accessible means for all eligible Arkansans to register to vote. Making matters worse, election officials have not clarified whether registered voters who previously used an electronic signature will have their registrations canceled. We are proud to represent GLA, Vote.org, Nikki Pastor, and Blake Loper in this critical challenge to Arkansas’s arbitrary new wet signature rule,” said Elias Law Group partner Uzoma Nkwonta.