On March 27, an independent candidate for Governor of Utah, Farley Anderson, filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court over whether his petition is valid or not.

Utah county officials check petition signatures. Salt Lake County elections officials determined that Anderson had filed 130 valid electronic signatures. Other counties certified that he had 960 valid paper signatures. Thus, the counties collectively agreed that he had 1,090 valid signatures. The law requires 1,000 valid signatures, so Anderson had enough, in the opinion of the counties. But the Lieutenant Governor’s office, which handles elections for the state, will not recognize the validity of the electronic signatures. Farley’s lawsuit is Anderson v Lieutenant Governor, 20100237.

The electronic signatures were obtained by signers visiting a web page, www.utahlive.us. See it here. Signers had to sign under penalty of perjury that they were who they said they were. They also had to submit the last four digits of their Utah drivers license or their Utah state ID.