Can third-party groups create their own voter registration form with electronic signatures, and submit them to Arkansas county clerks?
Plain-English summary
Secretary of State Thurston's office received questions about a practice: a non-governmental group built its own electronic voter registration application, with electronic signatures, that the user fills out online. The completed forms then either get printed and turned in to a county clerk or sent electronically to the clerk. The Secretary asked whether this is allowed.
The AG split the question into two parts:
Part 1: Are electronic signatures OK? Yes. Amendment 51, § 6(a)(3)(f), requires "[a] signature or mark made under penalty of perjury that the applicant meets each requirement for voter registration." The Constitution does not specify how to make the signature. Arkansas law (the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, A.C.A. § 25-32-101 et seq.) and federal law (E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7001–7006) both confirm that electronic signatures have legal effect when intended as signatures. So an electronic signature satisfies the constitutional requirement, just like a wet-ink, typewriter, telegram, or stamped signature.
Part 2: Can a third party create its own form? No. Amendment 51, § 5(b)(1), requires the Secretary of State to prepare and distribute the official mail voter registration application form. Any person can distribute these forms, but the Secretary creates them. A third-party non-governmental agency cannot use a form of its own. Voters must use the official form.
Practical effect: a third party can run a voter registration drive, can use electronic signatures on the official form, can collect completed forms, and can route them to the appropriate registrar via the Secretary of State. What it cannot do is design its own application.
What this means for you
Voter registration organizations and civic engagement groups
You can run a registration drive that uses electronic signatures, but you must use the Secretary of State's official mail voter registration application form. The form is on the Secretary of State's website and you can request copies for your drive. Adapting the form, redesigning it, or making your own does not work; only the official form gets a registration through.
If you want to use electronic signatures, structure your workflow so that the user is signing the official form (for instance, a fillable PDF of the official form or a digital interface that collects information and produces the official form with the signature). The signature must be made "under penalty of perjury that the applicant meets each requirement for voter registration."
After collection, the completed forms must be transmitted to the appropriate permanent registrar via the Secretary of State (Amendment 51, § 5(a)). Don't send forms directly to county clerks while bypassing the Secretary of State.
County clerks
If a registrant's application reaches your office through a third-party drive, check whether it is on the official Secretary of State form. If not, the application is not legally effective and the voter is not registered. Reject the application and notify the voter (or the third-party group) that the registration must be on the official form.
If the application has an electronic signature, that is acceptable under the AG's analysis, as long as the signature was made under penalty of perjury and on the official form.
Secretary of State staff
The opinion confirms your gatekeeping role: only Secretary-of-State-issued forms are valid. Communicate this to third-party groups proactively, since the practice the opinion describes (third-party forms, electronic signatures, sent to county clerks) was already happening at the time of the opinion.
For modernization purposes, you may want to consider issuing an official electronic version of the mail voter registration application that third parties can use directly. The opinion's analysis suggests that would be permissible: official form + electronic signature = valid registration.
Election law attorneys
The opinion is short but clear. The constitutional anchor is Amendment 51's text, particularly § 5(b)(1) requiring the Secretary of State to create and distribute the form. The Arkansas Supreme Court in Martin v. Haas, 2018 Ark. 283, 556 S.W.3d 509, confirmed Amendment 51 provides "a comprehensive regulatory scheme governing the registration of voters."
The electronic-signature analysis builds on the long line of cases recognizing telegraph signatures, stamped signatures, lithographed signatures, and typed signatures as effective. Howley v. Whipple (1869) is one of the cited cases on telegraph signatures. The modern UETA and E-SIGN regimes confirm what the historical case law established: signatures are about intent, not medium.
Citizens trying to register
If someone offers you an "electronic voter registration" form that is not the official Arkansas Secretary of State form, the registration may not work. Use the official form. If you want to register electronically, the most reliable path right now is through the Office of Driver Services and State Revenue Offices, which have an online registration system explicitly authorized by Amendment 51, § 5(b)(2).
Common questions
Why does Arkansas require the Secretary of State's form specifically?
Amendment 51 sets up "a comprehensive regulatory scheme" (Martin v. Haas) for voter registration. The form has specific required fields (the applicant's information, "yes" or "no" questions, statements following those questions, the signature/mark under penalty of perjury). Amendment 51, § 6(a), spells out exactly what the form must contain. Because the rules are detailed, the legislature decided to centralize creation of the form with the Secretary of State to ensure compliance.
Can a third party translate the official form into another language?
The opinion does not address translation. Generally, the form must be the official form, but the official form may already be available in multiple languages. Check with the Secretary of State.
Can a paper version of the official form with a wet-ink signature still be used?
Yes. A wet-ink signature on the official form is fine, just like an electronic signature.
What about online voter registration through the Office of Driver Services?
Amendment 51, § 5(b)(2)–(4), explicitly authorizes a "computer process" for registration through Office of Driver Services and State Revenue Offices, public assistance agencies, and disabilities agencies. This is government-operated online registration, not third-party. It is fully valid.
What is the difference between the "mail voter registration application form" and the form used at the Office of Driver Services?
The mail voter registration application form is described in § 6(a) of Amendment 51 and is available at the Office of Driver Services and State Revenue Offices on request or when the computer process is not available. Public assistance and disabilities agencies use a combined form that integrates voter registration with their service application. The computer process at Driver Services is yet another mechanism. All are valid; the rules just differ for each channel.
Can a candidate's campaign collect voter registrations using a custom branded form?
No. The form must be the official Secretary of State form, even if the campaign distributes it. Custom branding or design changes invalidate the form.
Does the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act apply to voter registration?
The UETA confirms generally that "[i]f a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law." That principle applies to voter registration's signature requirement. But the UETA does not let you replace the underlying form with your own design.
Background and statutory framework
Amendment 51 establishes voter registration. Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 1, sets up "a system of personal registration" to ensure voters are legally qualified. Section 3 prohibits anyone from voting unless registered "in a manner provided for by this amendment."
Three registration methods. Amendment 51, §§ 5–6, allows three methods:
1. In person (§ 9(h))
2. By mail using the official form (§§ 5(a), 5(b)(1), 6)
3. Through a "computer process" via Office of Driver Services, State Revenue Offices, public assistance agencies, or disabilities agencies (§ 5(b)(2)–(4))
The Secretary of State's role. Amendment 51, § 5(b)(1), requires the Secretary of State to prepare and distribute the official mail voter registration application form. Distribution can be by any person, but creation must be by the Secretary.
The signature requirement. Amendment 51, § 6(a)(3)(f), requires "[a] signature or mark made under penalty of perjury that the applicant meets each requirement for voter registration." The Constitution does not specify how the signature is made.
Electronic signatures. Federal: 15 U.S.C. §§ 7001–7006 (E-SIGN Act, 2000) recognizes electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce. State: A.C.A. § 25-32-101 et seq. (UETA, 2001), § 25-32-107(d): "If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law." Section 25-32-107(a): "A record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form."
Historical signature jurisprudence. Ragge v. Bryan, 249 Ark. 164, 458 S.W.2d 403 (1970) (Arkansas Supreme Court): "Printing, typing or stamping a name in the place where a signature should appear is sufficient, if it is intended as a signature." Earlier out-of-state cases recognize telegraph, lithography, engraving, and pasting as valid signature methods.
Martin v. Haas confirms the comprehensive scheme. 2018 Ark. 283, at 10, 556 S.W.3d 509, 516 (Arkansas Supreme Court): Amendment 51 "provides a comprehensive regulatory scheme governing the registration of voters."
Barwick v. GEICO. 2011 Ark. 128 (Arkansas Supreme Court), held that an electronic signature on an online insurance application qualified as a "written" rejection of medical benefits coverage. The same logic carries to voter registration.
Citations
- Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 1 (personal registration system)
- Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 3 (must be registered to vote)
- Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 5(a), (b)(1)–(4) (registration methods, Secretary of State's role)
- Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 6(a)(3)(f) (signature/mark requirement)
- Ark. Const. amend. 51, § 9(h) (in-person registration)
- A.C.A. § 25-32-101 et seq. (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act)
- A.C.A. § 25-32-107(a), (d) (validity of electronic signatures)
- 15 U.S.C. §§ 7001–7006 (federal E-SIGN Act)
- Martin v. Haas, 2018 Ark. 283, 556 S.W.3d 509 (comprehensive regulatory scheme)
- Ragge v. Bryan, 249 Ark. 164, 458 S.W.2d 403 (1970) (signatures and intent)
- Barwick v. Government Employee Ins. Co., 2011 Ark. 128 (electronic signature recognition)
Source
Original opinion text
Opinion No. 2024-049
April 10, 2024
The Honorable John Thurston
Secretary of State
500 Woodlane Street
State Capitol, Room 256
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Dear Secretary Thurston:
I am writing in response to your request for my opinion on a particular means of registering voters. You state that your office has received inquiries regarding the use of electronic voter registration applications, created by a third-party non-government agency, that include an electronic signature. These applications are then either printed out and turned in or sent electronically to county clerks. You ask whether this practice is allowed under Arkansas law.
RESPONSE
While an electronic signature or mark is generally valid under Arkansas law, the registration form must be created and distributed by the Secretary of State. A third-party organization cannot create and use a different form of its own to register voters.
DISCUSSION
Because this office is not a factfinder when issuing opinions, I cannot opine on whether any specific form was lawfully submitted or whether any specific signature was lawfully obtained. I can, however, explain the constitutional principles that govern voter registration and respond to your question in a general manner.
Amendment 51 of the Arkansas Constitution "establish[es] a system of personal registration as a means of determining that all who cast ballots in general, special and primary elections in this State are legally qualified to vote in such elections." Amendment 51 also "provides a comprehensive regulatory scheme governing the registration of voters." Unless a person has been "registered in a manner provided for by this amendment," he or she shall not be "permitted to vote in any election." Thus, any system for registering voters must comply with Amendment 51.
The Arkansas Constitution allows a person to register to vote in one of three ways:
- In person;
- Using a "mail voter registration application form"; or
- Through a "computer process" when registering to vote through the Office of Driver Services and State Revenue Offices, "public assistance agencies," or "disabilities agencies."
The registration process you have described does not fall into the first category for in-person registration. And because the registering entity is a "third-party non-governmental agency," it does not fall into the third category either. This means that in order for the process you have described to be legally effective, it could only fall into the second category, which requires use of the "mail voter registration application form."
The mail voter registration application form and its requirements are described in detail in § 6(a) of Amendment 51. These requirements include informative statements directed to the applicant; certain information required of the applicant; information that may be requested but is not required; a list of "yes" or "no" questions; and statements following those questions.
Among the information required of the applicant is "[a] signature or mark made under penalty of perjury that the applicant meets each requirement for voter registration." The Arkansas Constitution does not define a "signature or mark," nor does it specify how a signature or mark may be made. But courts have long recognized the effectiveness of signatures produced through a variety of means, including telegram, pasting, engraving, lithography, and wet ink. If the requisite intent is present, a signature marked by many means is valid. And over the past few decades, with the rise of electronic records and electronic signatures, new state and federal statutes have been passed recognizing the legitimacy of electronic signatures. In 2000, Congress passed legislation federally recognizing the validity of electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce transactions. In 2001, the Arkansas General Assembly adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which affirms the validity and legal effect of electronic signatures in certain transactions. The UETA provides, "If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law." Consequently, given the historical acceptance of signatures produced through a variety of means, the widespread acceptance of electronic signatures, and the fact that Amendment 51 does not contain any restrictions on how a "signature or mark" may be made, I believe that an electronic signature satisfies Amendment 51's "signature or mark" requirement. But regardless of whether the applicant's signature is electronic, typed, or made by penned ink, the application itself must still meet the requirements of Amendment 51.
You report that this third-party non-governmental agency has "created" its own "electronic voter registration application." The "mail voter registration application form" described in § 6(a) of Amendment 51 must be prepared and distributed by the Secretary of State. Although any person may distribute these registration forms, the Secretary of State, as the chief election official, initially creates the forms and makes them available for organized voter registration programs. In other words, a third-party non-governmental agency cannot create and use a different form of its own to register voters. Instead, the official mail voter registration application form created by the Secretary of State must be used to register voters. These completed voter registration application forms are then transmitted to the appropriate permanent registrar via the Secretary of State.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Summerside prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General