Evans faculty Scott Allard shares why policies around vote-by-mail matter.
Vote-by-Mail System
Voting is one of the most common and important ways we participate in civil society and the political process. Many of us see this as our civic duty. And in Washington State, we vote by mail and have been voting fully by mail for more than a decade. It’s an essential part of how we determine who leads our state and communities, how we fund our schools, and how we set priorities for policymakers.
But compared to in-person voting, vote-by-mail requires voters to not just complete their ballot, but to properly sign their ballot envelope.
About two weeks before each election, registered voters in Washington voters receive ballot materials in the mail. These materials include the ballot itself, a security sleeve, and the return envelope. Each ballot and ballot envelope is linked to a specific registered voter. Once a voter completes their ballot, they place it in the envelope, seal the envelope, and are instructed to sign the envelope to verify their identity. With these steps completed, the voter then returns the ballot to their county election office through the mail or at a drop box location. To be counted, ballots must be postmarked by election day or dropped in a ballot box by 8pm on election day.
Ballot Security
To maintain a secure and strong vote by mail system, it is essential that county election offices verify the identity of each ballot received – linking it to its correct registered voter. And in Washington, as do other states, it is the voter’s signature on the ballot envelope that is used to verify identity.
We might ask why do we use signatures? Aren’t there other ways to use technology to verify identity, as we do in other settings – things like two-factor identification? These are good questions, but at this point voter signatures seem to be the most accurate and equitable way to verify ballots are being cast by their proper registered voter. We gather signatures at the point of voter registration and county election offices can use sophisticated digital signature matching techniques to ensure voter identity. Other options that rely on technology may not be as accessible to all voters – and election officials worry that would disproportionately harm certain voters, such as those who are older or who do not have a smartphone.
But signatures verification requires us to remember to sign our ballot and to sign it in a manner that matches our registration signature on file. And, each year, about 1 percent of all voters forget to sign their ballots or return the envelope with a signature doesn’t quite match what is on file. In these cases, the voter receives an invitation to “cure” or fix your ballot – typically within a few days of casting the ballot. If you receive a cure notice, you have until about two weeks after the election to cure your ballot in a process that essentially involves providing a signature and verifying you are the registered voter. And roughly 60 percent of voters who receive a cure notice follow-up and correct their ballot signature.
Challenges with Vote-by-Mail
So, what’s the problem? Voters do a great job. WA State’s vote by mail system is a national leader. County election offices are recognized for the excellence of their work.
First, several thousand ballots ultimately aren’t cured by the voter. Several thousand more are received late and aren’t counted. We want to ensure that voters who are trying to exercise their civic duty have the best chance of having their ballots counted. And, we can find examples everywhere of how every vote counts. Our state and communities have many, many examples where an election, or a school bond vote, or a ballot initiative passed by just a few votes.
Ballots and Public Policy
It is at this point, after a ballot has been cast, where I think public policy, research, and our core values as a society really come in. In 2022, the Evans School started working with the Washington State Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to examine the voter experience and find ways to improve that experience. In effect, what can we learn from data and voters to reduce signature challenges and to help voters to remember to get their ballots in on time.
We first looked at the data. Several important trends showed up. First, younger voters are 4 times more likely than older voters to leave an unsigned or mismatched ballot uncured. Similarly, voters of color are about twice as likely as non-Hispanic White voters. Importantly, we didn’t see much evidence that rural voters were more or less likely to have ballots challenged or rejected than urban voters.
So, we started to consider why we might see these patterns. We spoke to election officials, we spoke to voters – and a few things stood out. Many voters are unaware that their signature is being matched to what is on their voter registration – which most commonly is our driver’s license signature in Washington because most people register to vote at the DOL. This means people may not be signing with intention or may be signing with a nickname or shortened name. And, in today’s world, we realized that most of us don’t really sign our names pen to paper as we might have – often we are using fingers on touchscreens to sign our names.
We also found that ballot envelopes and voter materials could be improved to help reduce signature issues on ballots. For example, not all materials may be translated in a voter’s preferred language. The ballot envelopes themselves vary across the state. So, there is room to use human-centered design principles to improve how those envelopes help to remind voters to sign their ballot envelopes.
Finally, voters often don’t realize that they can use technology to ensure their ballot is processed. We can sign up for email or mobile text alerts in many cases, and we can track the path of our ballot at VoteWA.gov.
The last issue we encountered related to late ballots, which is often the most common reason ballots are not counted. Here, we found that primary and off-year general elections saw higher numbers of ballots being returned late compared to presidential elections. This makes sense, at some level, people vote with more intensity in presidential years – but it also suggests there are opportunities to remind voters about election day deadlines. We also found that some ballots are placed in the mail too close to election day to be postmarked on time.
Research Takeways
Three key takeaways seemed to emerge from our research – commonsense tips to help us all exercise our civic duty:
- Sign your ballot
- Sign your driver’s license signature
- Get your ballot in early and follow it on VoteWA.gov
There is a bit more. We worked with the Center for Civic Design to use human centered design principles to improve the ballot envelope – like having the seal and the signature box on the same side, and having the signature box be larger and directions clearer. Since voters can receive ballot materials in a language they prefer, we also encourage policymakers to think about how all aspects of the process can have translated materials. We also know that counties can continue to advance efforts invite voters to opt into text message and email notices about their ballot status.
In the end, efforts to improve the voter experience give us more confidence in our election system. And, as importantly, improving the voter experience ensures that our voices shape the decisions that matter most to our communities and families.
