On April 17, U.S. District Court Judge Dominic Lanza refused to order Arizona to allow initiative proponents to gather electronic signatures.  Arizonans for Fair Elections v Hobbs, 2:20cv-658.  Here is the 30-page opinion.

The same issue is pending in the Arizona State Supreme Court, in another case, Arizonans for Second Chances Rehabilitation v Hobbs, cv-20-98-SA.  Briefing in that case will be complete by April 27, and the State Supreme Court will then issue an opinion without first holding oral argument

The federal decision points out that the Arizona Constitution appears to mandate old-fashioned pieces of paper for initiative petitions.  Article IV, sec. 9, says, “Each petition shall contain the declaration of each petitioner, for himself, that he is a qualified voter of the state.  Each sheet containing petition signatures shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure, and every sheet of every such petition shall be verified by the affidavit of the person who circulated such sheet…”.  Plaintiffs chose not to challenge the constitutionality of that part of the Arizona Constitution.  Instead they argued that electronic signatures substantially comply with the Constitution, but the judge disagreed, and wrote, “The signature requirements Plaintiffs seek to displace have been a part of Arizona’s constitutional and electoral landscape for over a century.”

He also said that it isn’t clear how electronic signatures for initiatives would work, given that the statute says election officials should use a random sample to check signatures on initiative petitions.