E-signatures challenged by Md. ACLU, defended by Utah ACLU

Says Dream Act vote website violates the law

By David Hill
The Washington Times
8:23 p.m., Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Two months before the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union questioned the legality of a website used to collect signatures opposing the state’s Dream Act, the group’s Utah chapter filed a lawsuit demanding that its state allow online signatures for referendum efforts.

The ACLU of Maryland began raising questions last month about a website used by organizers of an effort to force a referendum on the Dream Act, which would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Maryland colleges and universities.

The group said the site, mdpetitions.com, violates state petition laws by using online voter records to automatically fill in residents’ names, dates of birth and ZIP codes. The site also allows residents to download and circulate their own copy of the petition.

The Maryland ACLU has argued that the system is subject to fraud and that law requires that signers fill in all of their own information, rather than have it done for them electronically. However, opponents have argued that the group’s stance contradicts that of the ACLU of Utah, which in March sued its state to allow online “e-signaturesâ€