Gen Z voters' signatures are causing problems for Nevada ballot counters

[Jk23]

For many of today’s young adults, having a consistent signature isn’t much of a necessity – until it comes time to vote.

Thousands of voters in Nevada — many of them young — still need to verify their signatures on mail-in ballots before they can be counted by the Nov. 12 deadline, Nevada’s top election administrator said Tuesday.

Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) said that since the passage of automatic voter registration in the state — where a digital signature created when a person applied for their driver’s licene is linked to their online voter registration — “more Nevadans than ever sign their names on digital screens that may look different than their pen-to-paper signatures.”

Young people especially “may not have a set signature developed yet,” Aguilar said in an emailed statement.

https://archive.fo/KFxMv#selection-775.0-784.0

I wondered about this myself. I developed my signature singing thousands of tickets as a 24 in the nineties. Young people simply don't have a reason hand-sign things that often.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Tell me about it!

I'm a poll worker in NJ and noted that young'uns signatures look more like modern art than legible names. And they often don't match the signatures on file with their voter registration.

[The Madcap]

4. If legibility is a criterion for authenticity...

then have a look at T****'s signature sometime.

[hlthe2b]

10. More reproducibility than legibility. Those who never learn cursive have a very hard time producing anything

Last edited Sun Nov 10, 2024, 07:33 PM - Edit history (1)

even remotely reproducible.

[a kennedy]

2. Damn, never thought of that.......shit.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. In New Mexico, I just tell them my name,

they check it on the computer, ask me to verify my date of birth, and hand me a ballot. Couldn't be simpler or easier.

A decade or so back I'd let my signature get more and more sloppy, until it was "Pscribble Oscribble". I had a small problem at a bank, so I went straight back to my normal, legible signature.

[Irish_Dem]

5. The PutinGOP probably used this to their advantage?

[madville]

6. Cursive isn't taught in many places now

That’s really how people develop a “consistent” signature, learning cursive in elementary/middle school and handwriting school work over several years.

I imagine we’ll have some sort of acceptable secure digital signature in the future.

[TheKentuckian]

9. Ha! I cannot imagine developing a consistent digital signature.

That mess is different every time.

Sometimes it isn't even really my name, not in any known language or set of characters.

[madville]

16. It'll be a physical chip or digital token

Not an actual signature. Eventually people will probably vote online or through their phone more than in person or through the mail.

[TheKentuckian]

7. Damn it is tough to consider all the eventualities.

It seems obvious in retrospect but it never crossed my mind that these kids don't analog write and even if they do that is probably printing.

No papers. No checks in or out. No signing time cards or reports. No punishments of writing whatever a hundred times. Little to no cursive at all.

No signature. Not one engrained at all.

What a world. If it isn't one thing it is another!

[hlthe2b]

8. Gee... Maybe they should have taught cursive in school after all.

as many of us have said for years only to get some pretty abusive blowback from (not only younger posters but older ones too). How sad to not even be able to sign your own name in a reproducible form. How sad to never read the letters and papers of your parents, grandparents and others.

How sad that they miss the neurological benefits of learning cursive writing at a relatively early age.

How damned sad (and truly something that could be anticipated). Good gawd.

[niyad]

19. I remember reading an article some time back about how younger people

cannot read cursive ( or "joined-up writing" as Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart called it). Severall days later I was at my local library, with a list of books I wanted to order. The young librarian admitted to me that he could not read cursive. I was a bit stunned at the confirmation of the article's assertion.

So, obviously, if they cannot read it, they cannot write it.

[oasis]

11. During my years in casino security I had to

sign for cash and chips multiple times per shift. It was rushed because guests were waiting at gaming tables.
My original signature is a distant memory.

[Ontheboundry]

12. I have spent time teaching my

9 year old cursive. I felt she was better off for it

[localroger]

13. I am 60 years old and learned cursive. My signature on a pen screen is nothing like pen and paper.

And different pen screens make it different because of differences in response time, friction, and so on. I quickly got in the habit of just signing my initials when it's on a screen. Fortunately it's never been a problem.

[bfoxmatt]

18. 71 years old and perhaps now still fairly techie (for my age) ;-

You probably know all you need to know about me from my reply title!

My signature also varies a great deal on the tiny digital tablets at stores. I often use initials only or a very messy version of them or even the first initial, depending on how well the screen is reacting. It's never been questioned.

[karynnj]

14. I feel good if the digital image even looks like it could be my name!

Any signature written with a pen will look far different. My best digital signatures look like they are written by someone just learning to write and not very coordinated.

I imagine a separate issue is that many kids are not even learning cursive.

[duncang]

15. I'm a senior and have a terrible signature.

It’s very inconsistent. When I was young I can’t remember what they called it. Then as I got older I used to do a lot of signing paperwork while I was working. I ended up with a fast scrawl every time I signed something.

Also there’s a lot of famous people who have a fast autograph signature and what you may call normal signatures. I found that out trying to confirm some autographs I have.

[FakeNoose]

17. It's the similar problem with drivers' licenses

If you have a US Passport, then your ID includes a replica (or digital scan) of your signature. But a lot of people never had a reason to get a passport, all they have is a state driver's license. It's valid for driving of course, but not necessarily a good way to prove that's "you."

I say that because in Pennsylvania, the only way to get a drivers license is to sign on the digital keypad with once of those digital pens. The result on the digital screen never looks like my signature, mainly because I'm left-handed. But also the awkward way I have to sign it and the crappy digital recording equipment they have at PennDot.

The last time I tried it, I must have signed the screen 10 times and not one attempt looked like my signature. Unhappy with the result, I finally gave up and accepted one of them. Because of this I never show my driver's license for ID because my signature - my real one - doesn't look anything like what's on the card.

When I go to vote I always show my US Passport when I'm asked for ID. Never had a problem.