Electronic signatures

State Rep. Ramon Romero thinks it’s time for the state to embrace the digital age.

The Fort Worth Democrat has filed a bill to allow Texans to complete their voter registration applications on an electronic device such as an iPad or tablet.

“People sign electronically every day for everything from paying at stores or renting cars,” he said upon filing his legislation. “The election code should be made expressly clear that signing a tablet is the same as signing a piece of paper.”

It seems clear that election law will need to adjust to the increasing use of technology in efforts to recruit voters. In that sense Romero’s effort seems a logical first step to modernizing the state’s election code.

But his bill is also self-serving. Readers will recall Romero was in a legal battle with former Rep. Lon Burnam, who accused him of “an illegal computerized-signature vote-by-mail operation.” Romero, who denies the allegation, ousted Burnam from the seat he held for 18 years by a margin of only 111 votes.

The Legislature will decide if Romero’s bill is common sense or will increase opportunities for fraud.

It will be hard to divorce his proposal from the recent election ugliness.

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Electronic signatures."