Federal Court Strikes Down Texas “Wet Signature” Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an order issued yesterday, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas permanently blocked the Texas’s “Wet Signature Rule,” which requires voters who register by fax to mail or hand deliver a copy of their original registration application with the voter’s wet-ink signature.
The federal court order comes after the law was challenged by Vote.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy. Vote.org helps voters submit registration applications using digital tools, which ensures that voters with limited access to printers or mailing facilities, like young voters, voters of color, and low-income voters, have an opportunity to register. Elias Law Group attorneys, representing Vote.org, filed a lawsuit in 2021 arguing that the Wet Signature Rule “violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Civil Rights Act by selectively targeting and burdening private organizations’ efforts to increase voter turnout, and by imposing an arbitrary barrier to registration.”
In the order released yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam ruled in favor of Vote.org, declaring that Texas’s Wet Signature Rule violated the Civil Rights Act by disenfranchising voters for reasons unrelated to determining their qualifications to vote and placed an undue burden on Texas citizens’ right to vote in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
“Even though Texas holds weighty interest in protecting election integrity, because Texas fails to demonstrate the Wet Signature Rule serves or supports these asserted interests, it provides no valid justification to burden citizens’ right to vote,” wrote Judge Pulliam.
“This ruling will protect Texas citizens’ fundamental right to vote by blocking an outdated and unlawful voter registration rule,” said Elias Law Group attorney Uzoma Nkwonta. “The Court has made clear that the antiquated Wet Signature Rule, like so many voter suppression laws, serves no purpose other than to make voting harder.”
Elias Law Group attorneys Uzoma Nkwonta, Joshua Harris, Noah Baron, Alexander Atkins, and Meaghan Mixon contributed to this case.
Elias Law Group is a mission-driven firm committed to helping Democrats win, citizens vote, and progressives make change.