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Editor’s Note: This story is part of Cascadia Daily News’ mini-series “pre-bunking” misinformation and disinformation ahead of the 2024 election. The series will continue to explore the democratic process in Whatcom County.
A voter’s signature is the key that unlocks their ability to participate in the democratic process in Washington state. This is why every registered voter must have at least one signature on file in the Washington State Voter Registration Database.
When an election return envelope arrives at the Election Center in Whatcom County, it’s run through the Agilis mail sorter. The technologically advanced, conveyor-style sorting and processing system — among its many functions — takes a picture of each signature.
The signature is designed to do two things: to affirm the ballot is coming from the voter and assert that the voter meets the qualifications to vote, Whatcom County Auditor Stacy Henthorn explained.
The voter oath above the signature makes numerous declarations, including that the person is a U.S. citizen, is a Washington state resident, is only voting once in the election and not voting in any other U.S. jurisdiction, and is aware that it is “illegal to forge a signature.” This list goes on.
The signature images captured by Agilis are then matched by election staff against those in the Washington voter database before the envelopes are even opened, explained Whatcom County Chief Deputy Auditor Amy Grasher, who was the elections supervisor for the previous 12 years.
Of course, as anyone who has visited a doctor in recent memory can confirm, a signature can take many forms.
“Signatures don’t have to be in cursive. They don’t need to be your full name,” Grasher said. “A signature is a mark you make over and over again that is similar, hopefully.”
Election staff are not looking for an exact match on signatures, but rather similarities — at least three distinct similarities to be exact.
Full-time staff who verify signatures are trained to do so by the Washington State Patrol. They learn to spot similarities in signatures, which can include letter size, font style, slant, the way an “i” is dotted, and the way a signature starts or ends.
“We do verify every single signature on every single return envelope,” Grasher said.
Signatures flagged as potentially not matching, are reviewed by a second elections employee with significant experience in signature matching. That person will make a final judgment call on the ballot.
“If your ballot is rejected for being unsigned or the signature doesn’t match, it’s not the end of the road,” Grasher said. “We will mail you a letter. We will call you. We will email you. And, if you sign up for text messages, you’ll be notified that your ballot has been rejected and the steps to fix it.”
Signature issues can be fixed up until the day before an election is certified.
In the 2024 primary election, only 201 ballots out of 73,363 returned were rejected for signature issues in Whatcom County, confirmed Henthorn.
While every registered voter must have one signature in the database, it is possible for a voter to have multiple signatures on file by updating their signature in the system, explained Grasher.
This can be done by filling out the Signature Update Form at the Whatcom County’s Auditor’s website and then returning it in-person, by mail, email or fax. Voters can also call the Auditor’s Office at (360) 778-5102 or email them to request a signature update form.
The county suggests voters update their signatures if they have changed their name, had physical changes that alter how they sign, or significantly changed their signature.
Henthorn also noted that the Office of the Secretary of State, which maintains the Washington voter database, will be adding signatures on the accepted ballot return envelopes to the voter’s record before the general election in November.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
