Release via email:

Today, the League of Women Voters of North Dakota filed a lawsuit asking the United States District Court of North Dakota to provide relief for voters from the state’s burdensome signature match policy. Currently, North Dakota voters are not notified when their ballot is rejected due to a technical error such as signature mismatch, and there is no method for them to provide verification or cure the mistake to remedy their rejected ballots.

“North Dakota’s signature match system is prone to errors, which means too many ballots are incorrectly rejected,” said Jan Lynch, President of the League of Women Voters of North Dakota. “Without clear notification and a way for voters to cure their ballots, too many voters are disenfranchised by this process. Most often, these are people who already struggle with ballot access: those with disabilities, the elderly, young people, and those who learned to write in a first language that is not English.”

Under the threat of a viral pandemic, the number of votes cast by mail is expected to surge—especially in the state’s June primary election, when vote-by-mail is voters’ only option. The presence of COVID-19 raises the importance of having a smooth vote-by-mail system in which voters can have confidence that when they follow the rules and cast a valid ballot, their vote will be counted.