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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsVoters struggling with witness rules in early voting
RALEIGH, N.C. As the pandemic prompts a surge in voting by mail, voters in a handful of states, including the presidential battlegrounds of North Carolina and Wisconsin, are facing a requirement that already is tripping up thousands the need to have a witness sign their ballot envelope.
A lack of a witness signature or other witness information has emerged as the leading cause of ballots being set aside before being counted in North Carolina, with problems disproportionately affecting Black voters in the state, according to an Associated Press analysis of state election data.
While there is a process for fixing the omissions, voting rights advocates say the numbers are an early warning sign that the extra step is becoming a barrier that could disenfranchise voters and a potential source of legal battles in a tight race.
People are confused by this whole witness requirement, said Barbara Beckert, an advocate for Disability Rights Wisconsin, which was part of a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the witness mandate. Voting absentee is complicated. To get it right, you have to follow a lot of very specific rules.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/voters-struggling-witness-rules-early-voting-n1241117
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,851 posts)One is that people are not carefully reading the requirements for exactly what they have to do to have a valid ballot. And reading the fine print is something people really, really need to understand they must do.
The other is the bullshit of things like a witness signature on an absentee ballot.
I am beyond grateful that I live in a state that makes voting very easy. Personally, I'm planning to vote in person during early voting. But I suspect the absentee/mail-in ballots are likewise very easy to submit.
Oh, I'm in New Mexico.
ffr
(22,669 posts)Not again!
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)goes back to Jim Crow.
Why not have them notarized?
moonscape
(4,673 posts)As I (thinkI) read, the =application= for an absentee ballot must be notarized.