How Thousands of Already Cast Florida Ballots Could Be Tossed Aside Without Voters Knowing
Mother Jones Magazine
November 3, 2018
Since moving to Florida in 2007, Paul Cauchi has voted in person in his Miami-Dade county precinct.
But this year, after the county made a big push for vote-by-mail, he decided to give it a try.
He labored over the lengthy ballot stuffed with amendments, then, as he recalls, carefully signed the envelope and sent it in.
But when he went on the county's online voter information portal earlier this week to ensure that his ballot has been counted, he discovered an error message:
his signature either didn't match the version on record with the county, or he failed to sign the ballot at all.
"I felt really frustrated by it, and disappointed," he told Mother Jones.
"This is probably happening to other people."
Florida is one of a handful of states with a signature-matching law.
Such laws require that a signature on the envelope of an absentee ballot match the signature on file with county election officials.
In a state with tight races for governor, U.S. Senate, and many House of Representative seats, absentee ballots rejected over signature issues could prove greater than the candidates' margins of victory.
Signature problems affect voters of all parties and demographics, but data shows young and minority voters, as well as registered Democrats broadly, are more likely to have their ballots rejected.
While Florida counties are required to notify and provide voters with signature problems a chance to correct them before Election Day, county procedures vary widely, and the same demographic groups are less likely to be given an opportunity to fix any error.
Read more:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/11/signature-matching-florida-absentee-ballots/?utm_source=mj-
= new reply since forum marked as read
Something tells me they are accessing the voter database and seeing that the "questionable" signatures are all from likely Democratic voters. I doubt that any of the likely Republican voters will be challenged. So you're right - that makes it another form of voter suppression.
office and asked if I could update my signature. The lady who looked me up said my current signature matches fine with my 20 year old signature and that my ballot has never been declined.
I have to vote by mail.... One year Rick Scott decreased polling hours and locations so badly that it took me six hours to vote in person. Ever since, I vote by mail.
I’ve gone to the My Florida Office of Elections website for this year, and it reads ballot received. The was no other information so I assume it was counted.
Hope this helps.
