The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to uphold the rule in Texas that requires a “wet ink” signature on voter registration.
The opinion upholding the requirement for a “wet ink” signature passed with a 2-1 vote earlier this month. However, the appeals court also affirmed that private parties can take legal action relating to a Civil Rights Act provision.
According to initial claims, requiring an original handwritten signature instead of allowing a digital signature on voter registration represented a material burden on some voters. The rule necessitates that Texans submitting voter registration applications electronically or via fax must also deliver a physical copy of their application to their county registrar, complete with their wet ink signature.
The court’s opinion reverses a previous district court decision in June 2022. The original decision blocked the law because of a federal lawsuit initiated by Vote.org — the country’s largest nonpartisan voter registration technology platform.
The initial ruling maintained that Texas’ wet ink signature rule violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
After the original ruling, Republican officials, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, appealed to the higher court. The following month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to the request to pause the district court’s decision. This effectively reinstated the wet ink signature law.
The latest ruling reversing the district court’s decision rejects the Republican officials’ claim that no private right of action exists under the Materiality Provision. According to the court’s majority opinion, there is an “implied but established private right to sue [under the Materiality Provision].”
Despite rejecting many of the appellants’ arguments, ultimately, the appeals court decided to uphold the requirement of a wet ink signature in determining one’s qualification to vote in Texas.