Restore Equality 2010 has made a strange and bold move in the last days of its signature gathering campaign to get a measure on the November ballot which could overturn Prop 8. They’ve announced they’re now collecting electronic signatures as well as paper signatures. This has never been done before, and to help them with the effort, Restore Equality has enlisted the start-up company Verafirma.
The LA Times recently reported that Michael Ni, a co-founder of Verafirma, submitted an electronic signature to the clerk’s office in San Mateo, signed through the touch screen of his iPhone for the measure to legalize marijuana. The purposeful act was done in order to challenge current law, which does not allow electronic signatures to be collected for the initiative process. Currently, no state allows electronic signatures for initiatives, which makes it confusing as to why Restore Equality would choose to go this route. Ni’s signature will be considered by the State Attorney General’s Office.
Three states are currently debating electronic signatures. California, in this case, and Nebraska and Utah in similar cases. Decisions in California and Nebraska are pending, while the Utah Attorney General has already issued a 5 page analysis of the matter in his state, ruling that "the laws governing initiatives do not contemplate or allow for the use of electronic signatures."
There still is no word from Restore Equality about how many signatures they have collected and how many they need to meet the requirement of about a million signatures by April 12th.
