Utah officials to study e-signatures

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Utah Lieutenant Governor's office will study the feasibility of gathering signatures electronically for initiative drives under a bill headed to the governor.

"This bill doesn't say we're going to use electronic signatures. ... I personally have very serious reservations about the initiative process," said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, but the bill "gives direction to the lieutenant governor to conduct a study on the state of security and technology when it comes to electronic signatures."

A Supreme Court ruling in 2010 required the state to recognize electronic signatures when it came to allowing candidates to qualify for the ballot. Then, a group that wanted to put an ethics initiative on the ballot sought to use electronic signatures, but was denied. Last year the Legislature changed the law, banning all electronic signatures. The study would have to be completed by mid-September 2013.

Robert Gehrke