Georgia sued over voter signature match law News
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Georgia sued over voter signature match law

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project and the Asian-American Advancing Justice-Atlanta group challenging a Georgia law that allows the rejection of absentee ballots if signatures do not match other state records.

The law makes the election official’s determination regarding the signature final, with no avenue for an appeal to any judicial body. The complaint acknowledges that while a voter who has their ballot rejected on the basis that their signatures did not match can repeat the absentee voting process, there is no guarantee that their ballot will not simply be rejected again. The ACLU claims that the signature-match law also applies to applications seeking approval to cast an absentee ballot. The ACLU further argues that the process is flawed because Georgia does not require election officials to receive any training in handwriting analysis or signature comparison.

The ACLU claims the law violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit seeks a court order allowing individuals who have their ballots rejected to remedy the issue up until three days after Election Day or three days after they receive notice of the rejection, whichever event is later.

The ACLU has previously filed complaints challenging similar signature-matching laws in California and New Hampshire. Both of these lawsuits were successful.