Signature Verification and Mail Ballots: Guaranteeing Access While Preserving Integrity—A Case Study of California's Every Vote Counts Act

Abstract

California processes more votes by mail than any other state. Though many states have increased the number of ways that voters can cast a ballot in recent years, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought an additional sense of urgency to understanding how voters and election administrators actually interact with vote-by-mail regimes. In addition, in 2018, California enacted a new notice and remedy process to allow voters to cure a possible signature mismatch before their vote does not get counted. This article examines the implementation of that regime—the Every Vote Counts Act—and analyzes how election officials in the state verify voters' signatures on their mail-in ballots. As states around the country adopt their own or scale up existing vote-by-mail systems in response to the pandemic, California's decades of experience and innovation can serve as a helpful guide to a safe and healthy election in November for voters and policy makers alike.