Injunction in Florida recount lawsuit gives mail-in voters time to fix signature on ballot

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Tallahassee Democrat

U.S. Chief Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction this morning in a lawsuit filed by U.S. Bill Nelson over ballots thrown out because of mismatched signatures — declaring a state law unconstitutional and offering a middle path to give voters a chance to correct their ballots. "The precise issue in this case is whether Florida’s law that allows county election officials to reject vote-by-mail and provisional ballots for mismatched signatures — with no standards, an illusory process to cure, and no process to challenge the rejection — passes constitutional muster," Walker said. "The answer is simple. It does not."

The ruling is a victory for Nelson as he tries to narrow the almost 13,000 vote margin between him and Gov. Rick Scott in a razor-thin Senate race that is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits and is undergoing a machine recount, which will likely progress to a hand recount.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews had identified 3,688 vote-by-mail ballots and 93 provisional ballots in 45 counties that were not tabulated because of signature mismatches.

In a 34-page ruling that relies on football metaphors, Walker said Secretary of State Ken Detzner must order supervisors of elections that the state's scheme as it applies to curing mismatched signatures is unconstitutional.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/15/injunction-issued-mail-ballot-lawsuit/2009854002/

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Folks have until 5 pm Saturday to "cure" (fix) their issue.

[Bettie]

1. The signature match thing

should just be thrown out unless the people examining them are experts in handwriting analysis. I'm guessing they aren't.

[csziggy]

2. I want to object to the in person signature requirement now

The clerk who checked me in at early voting was dubious about my signature. I know over the decades since I registered my signature has deteriorated, but part of the difference is that they now have voters "sign" on an electronic pad using their fingertips. Of course a signature made that way will differ from a signature signed with a pen on paper! With my fat fingers I can't even stay in the damn little box they provide.

It really struck home for me when a week later I was checking into a hotel and had to sign on the same kind of pad - but using a "pen" rather than my fingertip. When doing that, my signature looks much more like the one on my driver's license - which is what I used as my photo ID for voting.

If I had been refused for voting, I would have contested it and would probably be in court right now. But being an old white woman, my vote was not questioned.

I think I may call up my local Supervisor of Elections and discuss this with him.

[Hortensis]

3. Good idea. Georgia's signature match law was put on

hold by a judge before the election. It apparently applied only to mail-in ballots, though.

I noticed when voting that the in-person form requires signatures be the same as on the registration form. I have no idea if I registered with my middle initial 18 years ago, and I don't know if it still included formed letters then instead of the vaguely artsy wiggle it degenerated into. I haven't heard this has been used to disenfranchise, though, which I imagine we would have by now.

Among many, many items in the democracy reform bill our house caucus will be introducing first thing, is automatic national registration. Automatic per citizen for life.

As for signing with a finger, those are a joke. Like you, at best the results look more like our tiny great-grandson's art, now that he knows that crayons aren't only for eating, than my signature.

[Bettie]

4. Yeah, when I sign on a pad, pen or not

it always looks different.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Trying to "sign" on a screen is just idiotic

I think this is why the credit cards have been pretty much eliminating signatures that.

Here in Philly, we have a book that has the entry for a voter and we sign on a line associated with our entry. The entry has a copy of our signature visible to the poll worker (upside down to us but right-side up to them). I know my signature has really really changed over the years but I believe they used the version associated with my driver's license from the state's DMV, and that gets updated every 5 years..

[cstanleytech]

8. Agreed. A simple sworn statement testifying to where they voted should be enough

as the votes themselves are secure from tampering and if our guy wins then great and hopefully it will put the Repugnants nose out of joint for trying this bullshit.

[SunSeeker]

6. K & R

[SunSeeker]

7. The signature match requirement allows subjective disqualification of ballots.

It should be unconstitutional.

[Bettie]

9. If we had a different SCOTUS

I'd say there would be a case upon examining rejected signatures....my guess is that significantly more not-white folks had theirs rejected.

[SunSeeker]

10. Yep. nt

[Calista241]

11. Unfortunately, this won't affect the vote totals.

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/11/14/nelson-needs-royal-flush-in-court-cases-but-will-likely-come-up-short-696249

As of the most recent update, only 7,871 absentee ballots were rejected statewide due to “voter error,” which could include mismatched signatures on the ballots compared with what’s on file with the state. And of them, 35 percent were cast by Republicans, 36 percent by Democrats and 29 percent by independents. Another 10,186 ballots were rejected because their envelopes were unsigned. Of them, 31 percent were cast by Republicans, 44 percent by Democrats and 24 percent by independents.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. "Unfortunately, this won't affect the vote totals."

It depends on how many people bother to come in to fix their issues. If most of the Republicans come in to resolve their ballots and Democrats can't or don't come to fix theirs, then you know the deal.