On July 25, the Montana Attorney General ruled that the Secretary of State is free to accept electronic signatures on petitions if she wishes, or she is free not to accept them. The Attorney General says the state law gives her that discretion. The Secretary of State, Linda McCulloch, had sought a ruling from the Attorney General on February 7 on whether electronic signatures on petitions for inititives and candidates are valid. She is a Democrat. If she decides in favor of allowing electronic signatures, Montana will be the first state to have taken this step. Thanks to Steve Kelly for this news.
Is there allegedly a government of LAWS in all 50 States — and NOT arbitrary rule by robot party hacks ???
Wasn’t Montana waiting for the 9th to rule on this issue. If memory serves me both California and Utah were having some trouble on this issue of electronic signatures? Is that correct?
There is no lawsuit on this issue in the 9th circuit or any federal court. The California case has already lost in both the Superior Court and the State Court of Appeals. I don’t know if it is being appealed to the California Supreme Court.
Although the Utah Supreme Court ruled favorably on this issue, then the Utah legislature changed the law to explicitly ban electronic signatures on petitions.