Signature Verification

This page assesses the signature verification process as weak barrier to preventing election fraud.

In our assessment, we believe MC employees are doing what is expected of them to confirm the signatures on an early ballot match the signature on the voter's registration record. The MC employees are not deviating from organizational norms. That said, the governance practices hindering the employees from effectively detecting fraud.

Some background information is necessary to understand why MC employees cannot adequately detect fraud.

Background

Arizona Law for Elections

Title 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes governs elections, voter qualifications, political parties, campaign finance, and related electoral procedures in Arizona. This statute states what must be done. The statute does not contain enough detail to explain how it is done.

For those that familiar with corporate operations, statutes would be equivalent to policy statements and procedures would explain how policies are fulfilled.

Arizona State Procedures for Elections

Arizona's Secretary of State (SOS) is responsible for ensuring elections are implemented fairly and consistent statewide, which gets complicated because elections are implemented at the county level. Arizona SOS creates the Arizona Election Procedures Manual (EPM) to explain how each county is required to fulfill their duties to implement election services.

Importance

Signature verification

Signature Verification Effectiveness Review

• Differences between wet and digital signatures