US Election Official Discloses Unexpected Issue Involving Young Voters
The article discusses how 'Zoomers' struggle with handwriting their names, creating significant challenges for them. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
In Nevada, a significant number of mail-in ballots for the US election are at risk of being rejected due to signature mismatches, presenting an unexpected issue, according to a report from the Washington Post published on Thursday.
Many young voters do not have a consistent signature when writing by hand. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar pointed out to the newspaper that "Zoomers," who predominantly use digital screens for signing, tend to have less recognizable handwriting.
This problem is particularly critical in a battleground state like Nevada, where the outcome of close races could depend on validated ballots.
With the introduction of automatic registration, many voters now have their digital signatures—often created on screens—associated with their profiles, which raises the likelihood of mismatches. Aguilar noted that younger voters in particular “may not have a set signature developed yet,” contributing to a rise in rejected ballots that will require verification or "curing" before the November 12 deadline for counting.
Election activist Debra Cleaver, the founder of VoteAmerica, has criticized the reliance on signatures as outdated, advocating for alternatives such as using birth dates and partial social security numbers as unique identifiers.
“It’s a problem at scale,” she cautioned, citing that California has experienced over 3% of ballots being rejected due to handwriting discrepancies, which could greatly affect tight races.
Cleaver argued that the current signature process is increasingly impractical. “We file our taxes with electronic signatures. When you buy a house in the United States, you also use an electronic signature,” she explained. “This is a vestige of something antiquated.”
The need to "cure" ballots isn’t solely impacting Zoomers. Aguilar mentioned that older voters and those who have recently changed their marital status are also encountering similar difficulties with their signatures. In response to this issue, Nevada officials have implemented text alerts, a strategy more effective at reaching today's youth.
As of Thursday, Nevada has counted approximately 94% of its ballots, with Donald Trump projected to win the state’s six electoral votes, obtaining 51% compared to Kamala Harris’ 47.2%.
Both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have reportedly called Trump to concede the election, as the Republican candidate has already secured at least 292 electoral college votes, while Harris has garnered 224. The threshold to win the White House is 270 electoral votes.
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
Many young voters do not have a consistent signature when writing by hand. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar pointed out to the newspaper that "Zoomers," who predominantly use digital screens for signing, tend to have less recognizable handwriting.
This problem is particularly critical in a battleground state like Nevada, where the outcome of close races could depend on validated ballots.
With the introduction of automatic registration, many voters now have their digital signatures—often created on screens—associated with their profiles, which raises the likelihood of mismatches. Aguilar noted that younger voters in particular “may not have a set signature developed yet,” contributing to a rise in rejected ballots that will require verification or "curing" before the November 12 deadline for counting.
Election activist Debra Cleaver, the founder of VoteAmerica, has criticized the reliance on signatures as outdated, advocating for alternatives such as using birth dates and partial social security numbers as unique identifiers.
“It’s a problem at scale,” she cautioned, citing that California has experienced over 3% of ballots being rejected due to handwriting discrepancies, which could greatly affect tight races.
Cleaver argued that the current signature process is increasingly impractical. “We file our taxes with electronic signatures. When you buy a house in the United States, you also use an electronic signature,” she explained. “This is a vestige of something antiquated.”
The need to "cure" ballots isn’t solely impacting Zoomers. Aguilar mentioned that older voters and those who have recently changed their marital status are also encountering similar difficulties with their signatures. In response to this issue, Nevada officials have implemented text alerts, a strategy more effective at reaching today's youth.
As of Thursday, Nevada has counted approximately 94% of its ballots, with Donald Trump projected to win the state’s six electoral votes, obtaining 51% compared to Kamala Harris’ 47.2%.
Both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have reportedly called Trump to concede the election, as the Republican candidate has already secured at least 292 electoral college votes, while Harris has garnered 224. The threshold to win the White House is 270 electoral votes.
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
