Arizona voters who don't sign early ballots will get a second chance under settlement

Arizona voters who forget to sign the envelope on their early ballots will have a chance after Election Day to fix their mistake and ensure their choices are counted.

As part of a settlement in a voting rights lawsuit filed by the Navajo Nation last year, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has agreed to a new policy to require officials to notify voters about missing signatures on early ballots and give them five business days after an election to remedy the problem.

The Navajo Nation sued then-Secretary of State Michele Reagan and election officials in three counties shortly after last year's general election when election administrators did not count mail ballots that were unsigned or had signatures that did not match registration records.

The lawsuit underscored inconsistencies across the state when election officials count early ballots.

Voters are required to sign the envelope containing their early ballots. But when counties receive a ballot with a signature that does not match the voter’s signature on record, officials attempt to contact the voter to confirm their ballot in a process called "curing."

In its lawsuit, the Navajo Nation said different counties had different processes for allowing voters to "cure" ballots missing a signature.

In 2018, Maricopa County continued to allow voters to verify their signatures on ballots after Election Day. Other counties stopped as the polls closed in their counties. Several county Republican parties sued over the inconsistent practices and a judge ordered all counties continue checking signatures for several days after the election had ended.

But the Navajo Nation argued in its lawsuit that county recorders still handled problems with early ballots inconsistently, leaving the votes of some tribal members uncounted.

The tribe's lawsuit noted that it requested additional early voting sites on the Navajo Nation to assist members with the election process. Workers at an early voting site collecting ballots could have noticed missing signatures and helped voters at the time, the lawsuit said.

County election officials denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer for Navajo County, one of the counties named in the lawsuit, wrote that there was no evidence tribal members were turning in unsigned ballots in higher numbers than any other group of voters.

In the months since the election, legislators sought to bring some order to the process this year, passing a law that requires county officials give voters until five business days after an election to provide a signature when an early or mail-in ballots' signature does not match records.

Still, that did not address early ballots that were submitted without any signature at all.

Hobbs to include signature rule in election handbook

In settling the lawsuit, Hobbs agreed to put the proposed policy into her draft of a new election procedures manual that will set protocols for county officials across the state.

Coconino County, which is also named in the lawsuit, agreed to a settlement this week.

County officials agreed to set up more early voting locations, with sites on at least some days in Leupp, Cameron and Inscription House. The county also agreed to open early voting on Saturdays in Tuba City and Flagstaff. Moreover, the county will provide one-minute radio advertisements in the Navajo language on completing early ballots.

Hobbs' office did not comment on the settlement when contacted Thursday.

Settlement discussions are still underway between lawyers for the Navajo Nation, tribal members and two other counties named in the lawsuit, Apache and Navajo.