Yes.
Once a ballot’s signature verification process has started, election officials have five days to “cure,” or confirm the validity of signatures identified to have a problem, like missing or incomplete signatures or mismatches between signatures on file and on the ballot. To cure the signature, officials must contact the voter.
If a problem signature is not cured within five days, the ballot is rejected.
Around 80% of Arizona voters use mail ballots, which all undergo signature verification.
The number of ballots requiring signature “curing” has increased in recent years, partly because of new, more stringent signature review processes. An uptick in voter registrations tied to driver’s licenses, which use signatures from electronic pads that may not be reflective of individuals’ signatures on paper, has also resulted in signatures that need curing. This is particularly true for young people, whose driver’s license signature may be the only one on file for verification.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Arizona State Legislature, 16-550. Receipt of voter’s ballot; cure period; tracking system
- Arizona State Legislature, 16-552. Early ballots; processing; challenges
- Arizona Citizen’s Clean Elections Commission, How Votes Are Counted
- Arizona Citizen’s Clean Elections Commission, The Security of Voting by Mail
- Arizona Secretary of State, Unofficial Election Night Results, 2024 General Election
- Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Signed. Sealed. Rejected.
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
