The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 21, 2025
A Washington State audit of rejected 2020 mail-in ballots offers insight on whose ballots are more likely to be rejected, and recommends actions to reduce that number – over 37,000 in 2024.
Primary reasons for rejection included ballots received or postmarked after Election Day; a missing signature on the ballot envelope; or the voter’s signature couldn’t be confirmed.
Auditors found 2020 rates varied from a high of 1.5% in Franklin County to .02% in Columbia County, and agreed with county decisions in 98.7% of cases. But they also found higher rejections of younger voters 18-21, where 2.6% of ballots were rejected, and Black voters at 2.5%. They also found that non-native English speakers were 47% more likely to have ballots rejected. Signature issues can often be cured, but many voters don’t, or can’t, correct it.
The auditors recommended outreach programs on college campuses, sending letters and calling voters with curable signature issues, more training on signature verification, opening early voting centers 18 days before election day, an advisory committee for disabled voters, and ballot drop boxes for every 15,000 voters.
In the 2024 general election, Washington’s statewide rejection rate had dropped to .94%, but of those, over 24,000 were rejected for a mismatched signature.
Find a link to the audit at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Washington Secretary of State – 2024 Annual Report of Washington State Elections
Office of the Washington State Auditor – (2022) Summary – Evaluating Washington’s Ballot Rejection Rates
Office of the Washington State Auditor – (2022) Audit – Evaluating Washington’s Ballot Rejection Rates
Brennan Center for Justice – (2020) Mail Ballot Security Features: A Primer
Civic Design – Voting by Mail: The Impact of Signature Identity Verification for Voters with Disabilities
National Conference of State Legislatures – How States Verify Voted Absentee/Mail Ballots
MIT Election Data + Science Lab – A Deep Dive into Absentee Ballot Rejection in the 2020 General Election
Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, LULAC, Vet Voice Foundation, The Washington Bus, El Centro de la Raza
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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