By Staff Reporter |
The Maricopa County recorder is alleging the dissemination of “election misinformation” regarding the signature verification process.
ABC15 reporter Garrett Archer said mail-in ballot signature rejection rates have been higher this year because the recorder’s office removed certain identifiers that previously helped signature verifiers validate voters’ signatures.
Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap rejected the claim as false.
Heap said that the only identifiers removed from the view of signature verifiers were the voter’s personally identifying information, which includes party affiliation. Heap said the lack of personally identifying information doesn’t impact verifiers’ ability to determine whether ballot signatures match the signatures on voter records.
Heap said the personally identifying information was extraneous and not necessary for signature verification processes.
“Put simply, the verifiers should not know anything about a voter other than whether the current signature matches the other historic signatures for the individual,” said Heap. “This protects all voters and has no bearing on rejection rates.”
However, Archer claimed that Heap’s response only served as confirmation for his claims. Archer pointed to the uptick in signature rejection rates last year and earlier this year, arguing that the increased signature rejection rates were directly caused by the removal of personally identifying information.
“The removal of identifiers will result in an increase in signature rejections,” said Archer. “We’ve already seen this in previous elections this year.”
Election integrity advocates countered that the increase in signature rejection rates may not necessarily be a bad thing.
Merissa Caldwell, EZAZ founder, said that the disclosure of political party affiliation may have had some influence on signature verifiers in past elections.
“The puppet admits that since the Maricopa County Recorder removed the Party identifier from the signature review screen, affidavit signatures are no longer being reviewed with bias to push signatures through that don’t match the voter’s signature attributes,” said Caldwell.
A rejection of a signature on a mail ballot doesn’t mean the ballot is outright rejected. Voters have the opportunity to cure their signature until November 8. Voters may cure their signature using the Voter Dashboard or via phone call.
Maricopa County voters who are unsure about the status of their ballot may either subscribe for text or email notifications, or check up on it using the Voter Dashboard.
As of Tuesday — the last day for voters to return their mail ballot through USPS — Maricopa County has received mail ballots from approximately 630,000 voters. Arizona only accepts ballots received in hand by an election official by 7 p.m. on November 3, Election Day, not according to the postmarked date on the ballot.
Voters who have yet to cast their ballot may still cast their mail ballot early by dropping it off at a polling location, vote center, or official drop box. Or, voters may vote in person. Early in-person voting ends this Friday, October 30.
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