Federal Court Blocks Arkansas's Restrictive "Wet Signature" Voter Registration Rule
In a major victory for voting rights, a federal judge has temporarily blocked Arkansas's new "wet signature rule," which required handwritten signatures on voter registration forms and directed counties to reject registration forms with electronic signatures. The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued a preliminary injunction against the State Board of Election Commissioners and three county clerks, prohibiting them from enforcing this restrictive requirement.
The injunction allows voter registration applications with digital or electronic signatures to be accepted while the lawsuit proceeds. This is particularly important as the deadline to register for Arkansas's general election is October 7.
Elias Law Group, representing plaintiffs Get Loud Arkansas (GLA), Vote.org, and two Arkansas voters, successfully argued that the wet signature rule likely violates the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"Arkansas has the lowest voter registration rate in the country at only 62 percent, with young and Black voters registered at even lower rates,” said Uzoma Nkwonta, partner at Elias Law Group. “This ruling is a crucial step in ensuring that all eligible Arkansans can exercise their fundamental right to vote. The court rightly recognized that requiring a handwritten signature is not material to determining a voter's qualifications and would cause irreparable harm to voters. We are proud to represent GLA, Vote.org, and individual voters in this critical challenge to Arkansas's arbitrary wet signature rule.”
The wet signature rule was a direct response to GLA’s success in registering new voters—particularly young and minority Arkansans. In early 2024, GLA launched an online tool on its website that allows prospective voters to fill out a registration application online and sign the application with an electronic signature. The voters then authorized GLA to print and submit the completed application to county clerks. On at least three separate occasions, the Secretary of State’s office assured GLA that its process was permissible, and the Attorney General also confirmed that electronic signatures are valid under Arkansas law. But after media outlets reported that hundreds of voters successfully registered with GLA’s assistance in just a few short months, the Secretary abruptly reversed course and advised county officials to reject applications with electronic signatures.
Vote.org, a national voter registration platform, has helped register tens of thousands of Arkansas voters over the past several years through user-friendly online tools. These tools are especially important for underserved communities who often do not have reliable access to printers and therefore cannot provide a wet signature. Actions like Arkansas’ wet signature requirement are a direct attack on the online voter registration tools that Vote.org has pioneered.
Elias Law Group attorneys Uzoma Nkwonta, Chris Dodge, Julie Zuckerbrod, and Omeed Alerasool contributed to this case.