A. Ballots that shall or shall not be counted based on ballot return envelope review.
1. A vote by mail ballot shall not be counted if:
a. The voter failed to properly execute the declaration on the envelope with a valid signature;
b. If a witness is required, the witness authorized by law to attest the voter's declaration failed to properly execute the witness declaration on the envelope, except that a ballot cast in person and accepted by an election official may be counted despite failure of the election official to properly sign and date the witness's declaration;
c. The ballot return envelope, if mailed, is postmarked after the date of the election;
d. The ballot return envelope, if mailed, is received after election day, has no postmark, and the USPS or mail distributor (e.g. UPS, FedEx) cannot verify the ballot return envelope was mailed on or before election day;
e. The ballot return envelope, although postmarked on or before election day, is not received before the opening of the public session of canvass;
f. The voter is not qualified to vote for any of the propositions and for candidates in any of the races on the ballot;
g. The voter already voted in the election; or
h. The voter did not provide required identification before the opening of the public session of canvass.
2. A vote by mail ballot shall be counted if:
a. The voter declaration is signed with a valid signature or, if the voter is unable to sign the voter's name, the voter marked the signature line and one other person has properly witnessed the voter's mark. For purposes of this section, a mark may be an "x" or other letter, line, or symbol verified by witness signature;
b. If signed by the voter, the voter's signature has been verified pursuant to subsection
C on or before the close of the public session of canvas; and
c. The ballot is received in one of the following ways:
i. The ballot return envelope is postmarked no later than the day of the election or the USPS or mail distributor (e.g. UPS, FedEx) can verify receipt of the envelope on or before election day, and received not later than the opening of the public session of canvass.
ii. The ballot return envelope is deposited in a ballot drop box no later than 8:00 p.m. on election day, or the ballot return envelope was voted at a vote center and was properly cast before the closing of the election.
iii. The ballot is received by electronic transmission no later than 8:00 p.m. on election day.
B. Postage that includes a date, such as meter postage or a dated stamp, does not qualify as a postmark.
C. Valid signature. The signature on the ballot declaration must be compared with the signature(s) in the voter's voter registration file using the standards in this subsection. The municipal clerk may designate in writing election officials to perform this function. All personnel assigned to the duty of signature verification shall subscribe to an oath administered by the municipal clerk regarding the discharge of his or her duties. Personnel shall be trained in the signature verification process prior to actually comparing any signatures. Training shall include techniques used to identify matches and forgeries.
1. The signature on a ballot declaration may not be rejected solely because the signature is not dated, unless the date is necessary to validate the timeliness of the ballot.
2. The signature on a ballot declaration may not be rejected solely because the name in the signature is a variation of the name on the voter registration record.
3. The following characteristics shall be utilized to evaluate signatures to determine whether they are by the same writer:
a. Agreement in style and general appearance, including basic construction, skill, alignment, fluency, and a general uniformity and consistency between signatures;
b. Agreement in the proportions of individual letters, height to width, and heights of the upper to lower case letters;
c. Irregular spacing, slants, or sizes of letters that are duplicated in both signatures;
d. After considering the general traits, agreement of the most distinctive, unusual traits of the signatures.
4. A single distinctive trait is insufficient to conclude that the signatures are by the same writer. There must be a combination or cluster of shared characteristics. Likewise, there must be a cluster of differences to conclude that the signatures are by different writers.
5. For signature lines marked, but not signed by a voter, the same attributes applicable to a voter's signature, above, may also be applied to a witness's signature, if challenged. If the witness does not have a signature in the state voter registration database, the municipality may rely on other signatures reasonably known to the municipality to be the witness's. For purposes of this section, a mark may be an "x" or other letter, line, or symbol verified by witness signature.
D. Missing or invalid signature. If a signature is missing or determined to be invalid, the municipal clerk shall, within three business days of initial adjudication of the envelope, send a letter to the voter explaining the lack of a valid signature.
1. The letter shall be sent to the address to which the ballot was mailed.
2. The voter may:
a. Fill out the form included with the letter and return the form to the municipality at the address specified on the form; or
b. Come to the location identified in the letter and present valid identification to an election official and sign a form provided by the municipality authenticating the envelope.
3. If the authentication is still determined to be invalid, the voter shall be notified in writing that their ballot is rejected.
E. Multiple and replacement ballots. Consistent with section
28.50.140B, the first valid ballot received is counted. Subsequently received ballots from the same voter are not counted. Subsequent ballot envelopes received from a voter who has already voted shall be marked "rejected," segregated from approved ballot envelopes, remain unopened, and forwarded to the election commission for adjudication. The voter shall be notified in accordance with section
28.85.010G by letter mailed to their mailing address and, if applicable, temporary mailing address. The municipal clerk may provide the voter's information and supporting information to law enforcement under section
28.200.120.
(GAAB 7.05.180; CAC 2.68.502; AO No. 80-101; AO No. 83-84(S); AO No. 85-75; AO No. 94-65, § 1, 4-12-1994; AO No. 99-113, § 4, 8-10-1999; AO No. 2001-43, § 5, 2-27-2001; AO No. 2004-176, § 9, 6-1-2005; AO No. 2013-130(S-1), § 7, 1-14-2014; AO No. 2017-29(S), § 35, 6-1-2017; AO No. 2018-4(S), § 17, eff. retroactively 12-1-2017; AO No. 2020-5(S), § 4, 2-11-2020; AO No. 2020-131(S), § 9, 1-14-2021; AO No. 2021-110(S), § 9, 12-28-2021; AO No. 2022-98, § 8, 12-6-2022; AO No. 2024-109(S), § 4, 12-3-2024)