Federal appeals court reinstates Texas procedure for mail-in ballot signatures News
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Federal appeals court reinstates Texas procedure for mail-in ballot signatures

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday reinstated Texas’s procedures for rejecting ballots with signatures that appear not to match those on record with elections officials.

The Early Voting Ballot Board (EVBB), which is responsible for processing early voting results, will only accept ballots if the voter’s signature is determined not to have been done by anyone other than the voter. To determine this, the EVBB compares the ballot application signature and the carrier envelope certificate signature. The EVBB may also compare those signatures with signatures the voter made within the past six years that are on file with the county clerk or voter registrar. If the signatures do not match, the ballot is rejected, and the vote is not counted.

On September 8, Judge Orlando Garcia of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled that the method by which Texas verified mail-in ballot signatures was unconstitutional and had to be corrected before the November election. Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs appealed this decision.

On Monday, the appeals court reinstated the procedure, staying an injunction against the signature matching procedure. The court noted that Texas was not constitutionally required to allow mail-in voting, but it gave qualifying citizens the option. One of the procedures involved in safeguarding the integrity of the election process is signature verification. The court concluded that the secretary was likely to show that the plaintiffs alleged no cognizable liberty or property interest that could make out a procedural due process claim.

The court also concluded that Texas’s signature-verification procedures were “reasonable and nondiscriminatory,” and they helped to ensure the veracity of a ballot and deter mail-in voter fraud. The signature-verification procedures entailed no more hardship than photo identification, which was constitutional.

The court concluded that Texas had a strong interest in “safeguarding the integrity of its elections from voter fraud,” which outweighed any burden on the right to vote. Because of this, the court reinstated the signature procedures.

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