New York AG Schneiderman Opines on Legality of Electronic Signatures for the Purposes of Online Voter Registration

State Attorney General Electronic Signatures

This week, New York AG Schneiderman issued an opinion regarding the legality of online voter registration, including the use of electronically affixed handwritten signatures. The opinion is in response to a February 8 letter from Suffolk County seeking the AG’s opinion as to “whether State law permits Suffolk County to implement online voter registration through the use of an electronic signature or whether the signature requirements of N.Y. Election Law § 5-210(5)(d)(xi) require signatures to be handwritten or ‘affixed by hand.’” AG Schneiderman opined that because Election Law § 5-210(5)(d)(xi) does not specifically require a signature written with ink on a voter registration application, the law does not preclude an electronically affixed signature. In accordance with the Election Law, AG Schneiderman commented that the electronic signature must be of a “quality and likeness to a signature written with ink,” and that an applicant completing an online registration application must either (i) print and mail the application to the local board of elections, or have a third party print and mail the application; or (ii) personally appear at the local board of elections.