From Democracy Docket:

Last Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 opinion upholding Texas’ so-called “wet ink signature” law for voter registration, but affirming that private parties can sue under a consequential Civil Rights Act provision. 

The voter registration rule at the center of the ruling requires Texans who submit their voter registration applications electronically or through fax to also submit a physical copy of their application containing their “original” pen-on-paper signature to their county registrar. 

Friday’s opinion reverses a June 2022 district court decision blocking the law as a result of a federal lawsuit brought by Vote.org — the country’s largest nonpartisan voter registration technology platform. 

In the district court’s 2022 ruling, a Trump-appointed judge held that Texas’ wet ink signature rule violated the  First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Materiality Provision protects a voter from disenfranchisement on the basis of minor errors or omissions that are unrelated to determining whether the voter is qualified to vote.