Today’s Links from Democracy Docket:
The Little Known Rule That Makes It Harder to Register to Vote
Georgia Sued Over Wet Signature Requirement for Absentee Ballot Applications
Listen: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-05-10T07_50_27-07_00
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping your government by and for the people.
Let’s talk “wet signatures!”
Yes, there is such a thing called a “wet signature,” and voters need to know about it because it’s critical to registering to vote and voting in most states.
A wet signature is one made by ink with a pen on paper, not an electronic signature that you can, say, buy a home with, or file your federal taxes. No, for many states, an electronic signature is not sufficient proof to use for registering to vote.
Now, 42 states and the District of Columbia have implemented electronic or automatic voter registration systems under the 1993 federal law Voter Registration Act. Most states require a driver’s license to register which has a signature on file.
Unsurprisingly, Texas is one of the states which does not allow registration without a wet signature. Democracy Docket reports that in 2018, the largest third-party voter registration nonprofit, Vote.org, allowed registrants in Texas to take a picture of their signature and upload it. But only one week before the voter registration deadline, the Texas Secretary of State invalidated those registrations.
May 2nd, a lawsuit was filed in Georgia, challenging their wet signature rule. Georgia voters can fill out an absentee ballot application online, but must print it out, then mail or fax it, making it more complicated for elderly voters, or voters who don’t own a printer. And by the way, what’s a fax machine?
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Send us an email at WethePeople@AmericanDemocracyMinute.org and tell us the state and station where you listen.
Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.”
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.