05/24/2026
EIGHTH CIRCUIT DENIES SBEC PETITION FOR REHEARING
Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Court denied the petition for a rehearing en banc requested by the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners (SBEC). The denial of the SBEC’s petition leaves in place an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit that affirmed the district court’s preliminary injunction against the SBEC from enforcing its rule requiring handwritten, or wet, signatures on voter registration applications. After the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office approved Get Loud Arkansas’s (GLA) tool allowing applicants to sign voter registrations digitally the Secretary of State reversed course and the SBEC adopted the wet signature rule in May 2024. 2024. Get Loud sued in federal court, claiming that the wet signature rule violated the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Later in 2024, a federal district court preliminarily enjoined the SBEC from enforcing its wet signature rule but that decision was stayed until April 1, 2026, when a panel on the Eighth Circuit affirmed the federal district court ruling blocking the wet signature rule. However, the SBEC voted at its April 26 meeting to file a petition for rehearing en banc, requesting that the full Eighth Circuit rehear the SBEC’s appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction. Today the Eighth Circuit declined to do that.
“This is a good day for voting rights in Arkansas” said Kathy Webb, GLA Executive Director. “With the full Eighth Circuit choosing not to accept the SBEC’s petition, and confirming the panel’s decision, we will continue to offer the Easy App as one step in the voter registration process. With our historic low registration and turnout, we’d like to see the SBEC and others working with us to expand access and not restrict it.”
