On March 25, proponents of a Utah referendum asked the State Supreme Court to invalidate the newly-passed ban on electronic signatures, at least as applied to their initiative. The case is Lord v Bell, 2011-02-59-SC. Here is the Complaint. Last year, the Utah Supreme Court had unanimously interpreted Utah law to permit electronic signatures on petitions. In response, this year the legislature banned electronic signatures, even though Utah does allow people to register to vote electronically.

The Utah Supreme Court has discretion on whether to hear this case or not. The lawsuit points out that it is illegal for voters to sign a petition twice. Some voters already signed it electronically. Now they can’t know whether they should sign a paper copy or not. Thanks to Paul Jacob for the link.