More than 13 000 ballots of young people in the US elections were rejected in the state of Nevada. Generation Z voters were unable to certify their votes with a signature.
This was reported by The Washington Post.
Handwritten signatures are an outdated way of verifying votes, according to the political organization VoteAmerica. The US schools do not pay attention to handwriting, so a personal signature is not a pressing need for the younger generation until an election is involved. So because of the unclear marks, the commission rejects their ballots.
“When they [Zoomers] register to vote through the automated system, they put their signature on a digital tablet at the vehicle control and that becomes their signature on their voter ID. It may look different than their pen signatures on paper,” says Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar.
Activists call for a new unique identifier. For example, it could be a combination of the voterʼs date of birth and part of their social security number.
“I live in California where everyone gets their ballot in the mail. Over the years, more than 3% of ballots have been rejected because signatures do not match. The people who determine this are not experts in handwriting analysis. This is a massive problem,” said VoteAmerica founder Debra Cleaver.
She is concerned that in a tight presidential race, voiding votes due to invalid signatures could be seen as a "deliberate attempt to suppress youth turnout." However, it is also a problem for the elderly and voters who have recently married and may not have updated their name in the register.
The state secretary of stateʼs office sends alerts to youth because buzzers often donʼt answer calls and are harder to reach. Nevada officials said 12 939 ballots have already been successfully corrected.
Electoral authorities could leave handwritten signatures on paper in the past, since writing has not been taught in many schools for decades, Debra Cleaver added.
According to recent AP estimates, more than 200 000 ballots remain to be counted in the state of Nevada. As of now, more than 698 000 voters from Nevada voted for Trump, he won 51% there. Harris was preferred by more than 647 thousand residents of the state, she has 47.2%.
- In the United States, on November 5, the election of the 47th president of the country was held. Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic Party representative Kamala Harris competed for a seat in the White House.
- Republican Donald Trump won more than 270 electoral votes — meaning he effectively won. The Electoral College will make a formal decision on the election of the 47th president of the United States on December 17, 2024, and the inauguration will take place on January 20, 2025.
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