The League of Women Voters wants to help voters ensure their ballot is counted in every election and this means helping voters understand the importance of their voter signature as well as responding to outreach by the Auditor’s office during an election.

In Washington state, the most common reason for a ballot to be challenged/rejected is missing or mismatched voter signature. In fact, missing ballot signature + envelope signature doesn’t match file signature + ballot postmarked after 8pm on election day = 95% of all rejected ballots (according to a recent study of Washington state elections conducted by the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance).

Among the findings of this study are these:

• Voters of color often have higher ballot rejection rates than White voters
• Younger voters have a much higher ballot rejection rate than older voters. The study found that almost 5% of voters aged 18-25 had ballots rejected in 2022 (compared to 0.8% of voters aged 45-65)

Let’s address these one by one.

1. Missing signature. The Kittitas County auditor has redesigned the ballot return envelope to make the signature line easier to see. But you, the voter, need to take responsibility for ensuring YOU remember to sign your ballot return envelope before  dropping it in a ballot drop box or the US mail.
2. Mismatched signature. When the ballot signature does not match the voter’s signature on file, the ballot is challenged.
   1. If you registered to vote when you got your Washington state driver’s license, then your ballot signature needs to match your driver’s license signature. 
   2. If you registered to vote on a paper form, then your ballot signature needs to match the signature on your registration form (we recommend you take a picture of it so you don’t forget).
   3. If you registered to vote online, then your ballot signature needs to match your Washington driver’s license signature.
   4. If there are multiple voters in your household, make sure YOUR ballot return envelope is not confused with another voter’s envelope. The bar code on the return envelope tells the Auditor which voter you are so if you accidentally sign your husband’s return envelope, the Auditor staff will be looking for your husband’s signature, not yours!

During voting, if you forget to sign your ballot return envelope or your signature does not match your file signature, the Auditor’s staff will reach out to you. Please don’t ignore them during an election!

Signatures change significantly over time and it’s simple to submit your current signature with the Auditor. They keep EVERY version of your signature on file so they can match your current scrawl with your prior signatures.

After you return your ballot during an election, you can log in to VoteWa.gov and check on your ballot status. At this time, the ballot status categories are: sent (to you), received (by auditor’s office), accepted, rejection/challenged + challenge reason.

So if you see that your ballot was rejected, don’t wait for the Auditor to contact you, go to the Kittitas County Auditor’s office ASAP and cure your ballot. Read more about the Washington State Ballot Project at https://evans.uw.edu/community-engagement/epic/washington-state-ballots-project/

Be A Voter! Be Counted!

This article was co-published by Ellensburg Daily Record Newspaper on November 2, 2024. Charli Sorenson is the past President of the Kittitas County League of Women Voters. She has also served on the Ellensburg Affordable Housing Commission, Kittitas County Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee, and Kittitas County Elections Disability Advisory Committee. She lives in Kittitas County with her long-suffering husband of 47 years.