Current:Home > BackCourt reinstates Arkansas ban of electronic signatures on voter registration forms-LoTradeCoin
Court reinstates Arkansas ban of electronic signatures on voter registration forms
View Date:2025-01-15 03:57:31
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated an Arkansas rule prohibiting election officials from accepting voter registration forms signed with an electronic signature.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon issued an administrative stay of a preliminary injunction that a federal judge issued against the rule adopted earlier this year by the State Board of Election Commissioners. An appeal of the preliminary injunction is still pending before the court.
The board in April said Arkansas’ constitution only allows certain state agencies, and not elections officials, to accept electronic signatures. Under the rule, voters will have to register by signing their name with a pen.
The rule was adopted after nonprofit group Get Loud Arkansas helped register voters using electronic signatures. Get Loud said the board’s decision conflicts with a recent attorney general’s opinion that an electronic signature is generally valid under state law. The group filed a lawsuit challenging the board’s decision.
“This rule creates an obstacle that risks disenfranchising eligible voters and disrupting the fundamental process of our elections,” Get Loud said in a statement following the 8th Circuit order. “The preliminary injunction recognized that this irreparable harm must be avoided.”
Chris Madison, director of the state Board of Election Commissioners, told county clerks on Monday that any voter registrations completed before the stay was issued Friday were eligible to have electronic signatures.
Madison asked the clerks to identify any registration applications Saturday or later that used electronic signatures and to make every effort to contact the voter as soon as possible to give them a chance to correct their application.
Madison in April said the rule was needed to create uniformity across the state. Some county clerks had previously accepted electronic signatures and others had not.
The Arkansas rule is among a wave of new voting restrictions in Republican-led states in recent years that critics say disenfranchise voters, particularly in low-income and underserved areas.
veryGood! (149)
Related
- Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
- Dollywood temporarily suspends park entry due to nearby wildfire
- AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean
- Medical experts are worried about climate change too. Here's how it can harm your health.
- Fantasy football buy low, sell high: 10 trade targets for Week 11
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused by Cassie of sex trafficking, rape and physical abuse in lawsuit
- What are breath-holding spells and why is my baby having them?
- Details Revealed on Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Baby Boy Rocky Thirteen
- Joey Graziadei Details Why Kelsey Anderson Took a Break From Social Media
- How do cheap cell phone plans make money? And other questions
Ranking
- What is best start in NBA history? Five teams ahead of Cavaliers' 13-0 record
- New data: Over 100 elementary-aged children arrested in U.S. schools
- 2025 Toyota Camry: The car is going hybrid for the first time. What will be different?
- U.S. business leaders meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping
- Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Details to Meri Why She Can't Trust Ex Kody and His Sole Wife Robyn
- Puerto Rico signs multimillion-dollar deal with Texas company to build a marina for mega yachts
- Medical experts are worried about climate change too. Here's how it can harm your health.
- Is espresso martini perfume the perfect recipe for a holiday gift? Absolut, Kahlua think so.
Recommendation
-
LSU leads college football Week 11 Misery Index after College Football Playoff hopes go bust
-
Northwestern president says Braun’s support for players prompted school to lift ‘interim’ label
-
U.S. business leaders meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping
-
Syria’s president grants amnesty, reduced sentences on anniversary of coup that put father in power
-
Groups seek a new hearing on a Mississippi mail-in ballot lawsuit
-
Man accused of abducting, beating woman over 4-day period pleads not guilty
-
Karma remains undefeated as Deshaun Watson, Browns finally get their comeuppance
-
Poverty is killing the Amazon rainforest. Treating soil and farmers better can help save what’s left