Some quick background for those who don’t live in Oregon: In Oregon we do our governmental voting by mail and we’re given the option of sticking a stamp on it and mailing it or dropping it off at any of the ballot drop boxes scattered around the counties.
What we mail back consists of the anonymous ballot, a secrecy envelope, and an outer envelope. The outer envelope has a bar code which identifies who is voting and it also requires a signature on the outside of the envelope. Once the fact the person has voted is counted (note: not what they voted) the outer envelope is discarded and anonymity takes over.
I’ve never liked having to sign the outside of the envelope. It’s always seemed like one more way someone could rip off a signature relatively easily.
Is it that big of a deal though? We sign all kinds of stuff and my general attitude has been that no one really looks at signatures these days anyway. Mix that idea with other people coming to the same conclusion, add my general laziness and I guess I let my signature slop around on my ballot envelope. Also, apparently they actually look at those. I got a letter in the mail today that said:
We were able to match your signature and your ballot was counted from this election, however it appears that your signature has changed since you last registered to vote.
They include another registration card for me to update my signature. I’m curious how they matched my signature despite it changing and, since they could match my signature, why am I being asked to sign another card? My guess is it failed a computerized test and had to be reviewed in person. That just raises the question, why can’t they scan the new signature and add it to the list of matches in the computer?
Anyway, it’s the first time my signature has mattered in a long time and seems to bring relevance to my original concern – putting it on the outside of an envelope makes it that much easier to copy.
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