Ballots can't be tossed out over voter signatures, Pa. court says

[RandySF]

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday on a key concern surrounding an avalanche of mailed ballots, prohibiting counties from rejecting them if the voter’s signature on it does not resemble the signature on the voter’s registration form.

Two Republican justices joined five Democratic justices in the decision.

The verdict was a victory for the state’s top election official, Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat who had asked the court to back her up in a legal dispute with President Donald Trump’s campaign and Republican lawmakers.

“County boards of elections are prohibited from rejecting absentee or mail-in ballots based on signature comparison conducted by county election officials or employees, or as the result of third-party challenges based on signature analysis and comparisons,” the justices wrote.

Mr. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are locked in a battle to win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes. With Democrats voting by mail at an almost 3-to-1 rate over Republicans, the prospect of disqualified ballots poses a greater threat to Mr. Biden’s candidacy.

In her court filing, Ms. Boockvar had said that any such rejections pose “a grave risk of disenfranchisement on an arbitrary and wholly subjective basis,” and without any opportunity for a voter to verify their signature before their ballot is disqualified.



https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2020/10/23/Ballots-can-t-be-tossed-out-over-voter-signature-court-says-pennsylvania-supreme-election-trump-biden/stories/202010230171

[moondust]

1. Good call.

I'm guessing that some deplorable Republicans have noticed and tried to take advantage of the fact that in the electronic age people may need to use cursive writing and physically sign documents much less often. That can lead to slight variations in signatures due to atrophy.

[radius777]

2. Repubs hate democracy.

I saw Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) on Rachel and he said there are still significant mail (DeJoy's sabotage) slowdowns in major metro (Dem) areas throughout the Rust Belt eg Detroit, Philly etc. Also said some people still have not received their ballot.

Anyone who is able-bodied and not in a high risk group needs to simply go in an vote, just as Fauci said he's doing. If you already have a mail-in ballot, best to put it in a drop-box or deliver directly to the board of elections.

Mail-in ballots are only wise to do in states with a history of doing it, that give voters and opportunity to 'cure' the ballot if something is wrong. Many states simply discard mail-in ballots that have any error.