UT: Electronic Signatures are Signatures

From an editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune:

It is fitting that the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah has taken the side of Farley Anderson. He's an independent candidate for governor from Paradise whom the state has kept off the ballot because it will not recognize the electronic signatures he gathered on his filing petition. Anderson will argue before the state Supreme Court next week that this was unconstitutional.

It is a basic civil right for any citizen to run for public office who meets the legal qualifications. As a matter of principle, it is ludicrous for the state to disqualify electronic signatures on candidate filings when Utah allows a person to form a corporation, file income taxes and register to vote, among other things, online.