How do election workers match signatures? (2024)

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All states require voters to provide valid signatures on their absentee/mail-in ballot return documents. Thirty-one of these states require election workers to match a voter's signature on ballot return documents with the signature on record for that voter. Election workers do this using a variety of handwriting analysis techniques.

Signature matching methods

Election workers may analyze the following aspects of a voter's handwriting in order to compare and verify signatures:

• Slant: Signatures from the same voter's hand should be slanted, or angled, in the same way. For example, if a voter's registration record signature includes letters that slant noticeably to the right, an election worker might look for the same slant in the voter's ballot return paperwork signature.
• Size and proportion of letters: When comparing signatures, an observer would expect the letters in each to be approximately the same size and share the same rough proportions to other letters. If, for example, one signature features a capital "A" that is noticeably larger than the capital "A" in the signature against which it is being compared, it might be determined that the two do not match.
• Shape of letters: Individual letters in signatures from the same voter's hand should share the same shape. For example, if the capital "A" in one signature is written in block letters and the "A" in another is written in traditional script, an election worker might determine that the two do not match.
• Ending strokes: Some signatures feature long ending strokes. If one signature features a long ending stroke and the other doesn't, they may not have come from the same hand.
• Speed of writing: A signature lacking fluidity, that appears halting, might suggest that the individual signing it was writing slowly in an attempt to replicate someone else's signature.
• Pen lifts: If someone is attempting to replicate someone else's signature, there might be observable pen lifts (i.e., marks indicating that the pen was lifted from the paper) in the forged signature.

Signature matching requirements by state

All 50 states require a valid signature for an absentee/mail-in ballot to be counted. According to National Conference of State Legislatures, 31 states require election workers to compare a voter's absentee/mail-in ballot with with the voter's signature on file (e.g., the signature on a driver's license or voter registration application). Twenty states and the District of Columbia practice signature matching and allow voters to remedy mismatches. Another eleven states practice signature matching, but do not allow voters to remedy mismatches. Nineteen states either do not have signature matching laws or do not practice signature matching on a regular basis.

Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, told The New York Times that signature matching "is the best way to strike a balance between security, transparency, and accessibility for voters" when done properly, including a process to fix signature mismatches. Mark Gaber, the director of trial litigation at the Campaign Legal Center, said that signature matching was problematic, with courts having found "that there's a high risk of wrongly being identified as not having signed your ballot."

The map below identifies the states requiring signature matching and allowing for remedying mismatches, those requiring signature matching not allowing for remedying mismatches, and those not requiring signature matching.

See also

• Absentee/mail-in voting
• Absentee/mail-in voting eligibility
• How does absentee/mail-in voting work?
• Absentee/mail-in voting witness requirements
• How can I check the status of my ballot?
• What happens if I vote by mail and want to change my ballot at a later date?
• What happens if someone votes by mail and then tries to vote in person?
• What happens if someone votes by absentee/mail-in ballot and dies before Election Day?
• Do absentee/mail-in ballots take longer to count than in-person ballots?
• How do states verify absentee/mail-in ballots?
• Ballot curing rules by state
• When can states begin processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots?
• Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots in the states