The Esignature Post

Electronic signatures have obvious applications to government.  One area that is evolving rapidly is the election system at the core of the US democratic government.  The internet has already had dramatic impact on the practice of politics, and electronic signatures combined with electronic documents and social networks seem destined to change politics and and policy in ways that we are only now beginning to comprehend.  Recent court cases are setting precedents for the role of electronic signatures in US elections, we will highlight a couple in this post.

Last summer Utah’s Supreme Court ruled that electronic signatures on a petition to nominate a gubernatorial candidate must be honored.  The court overruled the state’s election commission and required that signatures on an online nominating petition be accepted, see Anderson v. Bell.  As a result of this ruling Mr. Farley Anderson was listed on the ballot for Utah governor in 2010.  While Mr Anderson was not successful in his campaign to become the governor of Utah this ruling is likely to have significant impact on electronic signature gathering in elections in Utah and beyond.

Meanwhile a case in California is wending its way through the courts.  Michael Ni, a founder of Verafirma, submitted an electronically stored petition containing his electronic signature to the San Mateo County Elections Office.  Verafirma is an electronic signature technology company focused on use of electronic signatures in politics.  His submission was rejected by the elections office and the rejection was upheld by the Superior Court in San Mateo County.  This is now being appealed at the state Court of Appeals and will probably be heard soon.

Briefs have been filed on behalf of Mr. Ni by the Asian American Action Fund, Citizens in Charge, the Humane Society of the United States, the National Taxpayers Union, the Electronic Signature and Records Association, Antonio Gonzalez, and Joe Trippi.  Links to many of the filings and briefs can be found on Verafirma’s Twitter feed.

Verafirma believes that the use of electronic signatures can dramatically reduce the cost of qualifying ballot initiatives, encourage more citizen involvement and increase the quality of legislation submitted to voters.   This seems reasonable and  I think that the effects of reducing friction and increasing participation in our democratic process could be staggering.  What will a democracy of the late 21st century look like?