Members of the Cass County Canvassing Board prepare to review ballots on Nov. 18, 2024, in Fargo. At the head of the table is Cass County Commission Chair Chad Peterson, left, and Finance Director Brandy Madrigga. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
FARGO (North Dakota Monitor) – For voters choosing to use absentee ballots, providing consistent signatures is a key to making sure your ballot is counted.
Absentee voters in North Dakota sign a form when they request a ballot and sign again on the envelope when they submit their ballot. Election officials might reject that ballot if the signatures aren’t similar.
But even if the signatures are questioned, voters have a chance to rectify the situation.
If election officials are questioning the signatures, the voter will get a letter, phone call or both to alert them. The voter can then provide a copy of their identification by email, letter or in person at the county auditor’s office to verify their vote.
If a voter does not “cure” their signature with election officials, the county canvassing board will examine the signatures and decide if the vote will count.
The Cass County canvassing board, which certifies the election results, rejected some ballots because of mismatched signatures after the 2024 general election.
Sarah Heinle, finance director for Cass County, is in charge of elections for the state’s most populous county. Cass County so far has issued more than 2,000 absentee ballots for the primary election.
“For the signature process, our goal is to make sure that as few as possible get to canvassing,” Heinle said, with officials reaching out to voters with questionable ballots.
Carol Sawicki has served as an election official in Cass County that checks absentee ballots for things such as the matching signature before the ballot would be sent to the canvassing board.
“It’s incredibly labor intensive,” Sawicki said, with people working in pairs, one from each party, to examine the envelopes and application signatures.
Another common problem among couples was using the wrong return envelope. The envelopes come with a sticker that corresponds to the voter, but couples will sometimes switch return envelopes without realizing it.
Another error Sawicki has seen is using a rubber stamp for a signature instead of signing with a pen.
The election workers checking signatures won’t see how the person voted. The actual ballot will be in a protective sleeve. A different worker who doesn’t see the signature will remove the ballot from the sleeve.
The work of the absentee board happens quickly. State law says ballots can’t be opened until the Friday before Election Day on Tuesday.
Some counties wait until Election Day to open the absentee ballots.
That means voters usually have between Election Day and the meeting of the canvassing board 13 days later to rectify any issues.
Absentee voters haven’t always had that option. A lawsuit in 2020 forced election officials to provide an opportunity for people to dispute a rejected absentee ballot.
The case included a Grand Forks woman with multiple sclerosis, which made it difficult for her to provide a consistent signature.
Like the absentee boards, canvassing boards include representatives from both political parties.
“Reviewing those signatures is kind of a big job, and there’s a lot that they look at,” White said. “They want to make sure that our elections are being held with security and integrity and that the people who are voting are the people who are supposed to be voting. But at the same time kind of looking at it through the lens of ensuring that valid ballots are being counted as well.”
County canvassing boards review questionable ballots submitted by absentee voters and ballots that were set aside at a polling place on Election Day. Election officials may set aside a ballot if there is a question about the voter’s eligibility.
One issue the canvassing boards won’t have to deal with this year is ballots received after Election Day.
In the past, North Dakota has allowed ballots that arrive after Election Day if they have a postmark from before Election Day. But a law change means those ballots won’t be counted.
For people concerned about their ballot arriving on time, there is an online ballot-tracking tool. If it appears their ballot has been delayed, people can still vote in person. White said the first vote that election officials receive will be the one that counts.
Another change from past elections is that voters can drop off their ballot at a drop box or the county auditor’s office on Election Day. White said many people had assumed this was allowed in the past and the rule change should help avoid confusion.
While voters whose ballots are questioned can try to provide answers, not all do.
In the 2024 general election in Cass County, there were 498 ballots that were set aside on Election Day. The votes were from people who cast ballots without the proper identification or proof of residency. Only 46 of those voters resolved the question before the canvassing board met, meaning 452 ballots were rejected.
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