Problems with signature

Votes invalid: Gen Z failed to vote

The immature signature of Generation Z poses problems for election workers when it comes to postal votes.

(Bild: APA/Associated Press)

Because many Generation Z voters have problems with handwriting, many votes cast by younger voters cannot be counted. Their signature is apparently not unique enough.

While the votes for the presidential election are still being counted, the New York Times has broken some shocking news: Thousands of votes from Generation Z postal voters in the state of Nevada had to be rejected. More than 13,000 votes were invalid.

Secretary of State: Young people have "no more signatures"
"It's mainly because young people don't have signatures these days," explained Nevada's Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar outside a polling station in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

An election worker sorts absentee ballots

(Bild: APA/Associated Press)

Digital signature differs from analog signature
The problem: The signature officially stored by the state would often be submitted digitally on a tablet - like when registering for a driver's license. If a handwritten signature is later used, it often cannot be compared with the digital signature. The signature is simply not recognized. 

Nevada is considered a particularly crucial "swing state " for the US election - Aguilar explained that the authorities would ensure that the signature verification procedures now required "are applied uniformly throughout the state". Clark County and Washoe County in particular have many cases, he said. "When you look at the number of cases and realize how many there are, it makes you nervous because these races are so close, the margins are so small," Aguilar said.

(Bild: Associated Press)

No more handwriting in schools in many states
The problem is that "handwriting is no longer taught in schools", explains the founder of the NGO Vote America, Sebra Cleaver. Since 2010, many states have removed handwriting from the school curriculum. Many people who are now in their late teens or early 20s would have had little or no handwriting lessons and thus never learned their own unique handwriting.

About two-thirds of states have a "correction process" to notify voters that their ballots were not counted and give them a chance to correct the error. This is still possible until November 12, one week after Election Day.