Handwritten signatures have been a sticking point for California's young voters

More than a month after voting by mail in the presidential election, South Los Angeles resident Taylor Johnson learned that her ballot had not been counted because election workers had a problem with the way she signed her name on the ballot envelope.

The elections office told Johnson that his signature on the ballot did not match another signature he had on file. Johnson wasn't sure what signature that was, but he knew it would look different: After printing his name for years, he perfected his signature combination a few months ago.

“Most people my age just take notes,” said Johnson, 20, who works as an administrative assistant at an imaging clinic.

For young Americans who rarely sign anything beyond a paper receipt or a coffee shop iPad, a written signature means nothing — except when voting by mail, when the signature is crucial in determining whether a mail-in vote counts.

In California, voters under the age of 25 made up 10% of November's voters, but had nearly 3 in 10 votes cast on signature issues, according to a survey by the voter data company, Political Data Inc. More than half of the states. Votes with signature issues were from voters under the age of 35.

California generally verifies the identity of mail-in voters with their signatures. Up to three election workers check each ballot envelope to make sure the signature matches the voter registration papers or driver's license, and set aside envelopes with missing or inconsistent signatures.

Election officials are required to notify those voters and give them an opportunity to correct the error.

In the November election, nearly 200,000 ballots were marked with signature issues in all of California's 58 counties. About 6 in 10 end up being counted through a process known as “remediation,” where a voter can fill out a form to prove the erroneous ballot was theirs, while more than 83,000 were not counted.

In a survey of voters whose ballots were marked due to signature problems, 40% of respondents said their signature looked different than before, and another 40% said they used a sloppy, incomplete or unusual signature, “like the one I use to sign for a restaurant.” bill,” and 12% said they forgot to sign the envelope altogether.

“When you're dealing with a country with 22 million voters, and 16 million who send their ballots by signature, there are a lot of ways to create a problem,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president at PDI. do some research.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page recommended that voters look at the signature on their driver's license before signing their ballots and should consider sending in a new registration form if their signature has changed. He said Orange County plans to send forms to 12,000 voters in hopes of getting a new signature on file.

“We know that signatures change over time,” Page said. “And we know that the way people sign a piece of paper with their finger at the DMV is not the way they sign their name.”

Mitchell's analysis found that in six highly contested congressional races, 85% of Republicans and Democrats whose ballots were marked for signature issues were able to have their ballots processed and counted, a 25-point jump above the statewide average.

The Republican and Democratic parties have mobilized armies of volunteers and staff to go door-to-door in the most competitive districts of the US House of Representatives.

In the Central Valley, where Democrat Adam Gray narrowly won GOP Rep. John Duarte, the number of votes cast by Democrats and Republicans far exceeded the 187-vote limit for the race.

Campaign volunteers and workers went door-to-door in the districts, trying to talk to voters in person and explaining how to fill out the ballot papers, in some cases helping them to go check, print and return the forms.

Mitchell found that nonpartisan voters had a significantly lower return rate than voters affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties in competitive districts, suggesting that each party focused more on its loyal voters first.

In the less competitive districts, voters went on their own.

Cassidy Crotwell, 22, registered to vote during an economics class her senior year at El Toro High School in Orange County. Everyone in the class was registering on their phones, he said, and he didn't sign anything.

Crotwell found out about the issue with her November ballot signature via a text message from the Orange County Registrar's office. Republican Rep. Young Kim, who represents his Congressional district, easily won re-election, and neither party has done meaningful medical work there; no other groups or campaigns have contacted Crotwell, he said.

He thought the election office had a signature on file from when he got his driver's license at 16, but his signature is “more defined now,” he said — the result of a staff job where he signed dozens of documents. papers. Not only did he correct his ballot but he plans to update his signature the next time he goes to the DMV.

Johnson, a South LA voter, also did not amend his vote. By the time he learned that his vote had not been counted, the presidential election had been over for weeks.

By mid-2026, Johnson said, he would vote in person — no signature required.