BOISE, Idaho — Thousands of Idahoans are expected to vote through the mail, via absentee voting, for the November 2022 election. That process comes with practical questions about voter security and authentication, but as Phil asked the 208, if an absentee ballot is rejected for a ‘bad’ signature, is that voter ever told?
We checked in with Idaho election expert, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck.
“So, under Idaho law, what you're typically talking about there or what's described in the public as curing that ballot, that's the term most often associated with what we're talking about here," Houck said. "There is no requirement in Idaho law for county clerks to cure a ballot."
However, Houck said county clerks want to get the votes correct and counted.
“They do everything they can in most cases to reach out to that individual and let them know, they may have contact information, the only contact information they have is mail. So, they would be mailing them a letter saying there's been an issue with your signature," Houck said. "The fastest way to find out about that is to jump on to voteIdaho.gov. Check the status of your existing ballot, you'll see that it went from outstanding to rejected or outstanding to on hold. That lets you know that you need to get in touch with the clerk."
County clerks may have a phone number on file as well and may call about issues.
This election season, some Idahoans might be voting absentee for the first time, prompting a question about what their signature is supposed to look like, in terms of what the county has on record and how voters can make sure to match that. Houck said it depends on how you registered to vote.
“If you registered online with our online voter registration tools, then your signature was actually pulled from your DMV file. As long as there was a usable signature there with the DMV," Houck said. "So, it would be the same as what's on your driver's license. If you filled out a voter registration card, then that signature is going to be what was on that actual registration card scanned in as a digital image."
Speaking of authentication, a popular question about the process involves who is doing that work. A computer or a person? Houck said in Idaho, it is human beings.
“We do put all of our county staff folks through a handwriting signature verification training program. They're taught to look for specific markers, specific indicators that give them a high level of confidence that the signature, while it may mature or degrade over time, was actually executed by the same individual as the record signature,” Houck said.
Some counties, like Ada County, do use digital scanning to make sure there is simple a signature on the ballot before authentication. Houck said now is the time for a great reminder, you need to have a signature on your absentee ballot.
“I think the biggest thing to remember when we're talking about absentee ballots, it isn't about the number of signatures rejected," Houck said. "It isn't about the exact matching or the accuracy of the signature. More often than not, reasons for rejection, the biggest reason for rejection, is simply forgetting to sign the envelope altogether."
Another major reminder, make sure your ballot ends up in your envelope back to the clerk’s office.
“You're seeing the absentee ballot for the husband coming back in the wife's envelope or vice versa and those have to line up. The signature on the envelope has to match the registered voters name on the envelope, because that's the that's the account they're looking for," Houck said. "If that doesn't line up, they're not going to look for, 'well, what's the spouse?' This looks like a spouse's signature.' Did the spouse have an absentee ballot as well?'"
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