Why It Matters
In North Dakota, a mismatched signature on an absentee ballot can mean the difference between a vote being counted and a vote being rejected. With primary elections drawing thousands of absentee requests statewide, election officials are reminding voters that consistency in how they sign their name is one of the most important steps in ensuring their ballot is valid.
What Happened
North Dakota’s absentee voting process requires voters to sign twice — once when requesting a ballot and again on the return envelope when submitting it. Election officials compare those two signatures, and if they don’t appear to match, the ballot may be flagged for further review.
Erika White, elections director with the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office, described the signature-matching requirement as a security measure designed to confirm that the person who requested a ballot is the same person casting it. “The matching signatures is really a secure mechanism,” White said, noting that officials also want to ensure valid ballots are ultimately counted.
Cass County, the state’s most populous county, had already issued more than 2,000 absentee ballots for the current primary cycle. Sarah Heinle, the county’s finance director overseeing elections, said the goal is to resolve as many signature questions as possible before ballots ever reach the canvassing board.
Voters whose ballots are flagged receive notification by letter, phone call, or both. They then have a window — typically between Election Day and the canvassing board meeting 13 days later — to resolve the issue by providing a copy of their identification to the county auditor’s office, by email, mail, or in person.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Carol Sawicki, an election official in Cass County who reviews absentee ballots, said the process is labor-intensive. Workers review ballots in pairs, with one representative from each political party, and focus only on the envelope and signature — not the ballot itself, which is kept in a protective sleeve and handled separately.
Among the most frequent errors Sawicki has observed: couples accidentally swapping return envelopes, each of which is labeled with a sticker tied to a specific voter. Another recurring problem is voters using a rubber stamp rather than a handwritten signature.
Importantly, election workers reviewing signatures never see how a person voted. A separate worker, who has no access to the signature information, removes the actual ballot from its sleeve for counting.
By the Numbers
- 2,000+ absentee ballots issued by Cass County for the current primary election
- 498 ballots set aside on Election Day during the 2024 general election in Cass County, primarily due to missing identification or proof of residency
- 46 of those 498 voters resolved questions before the canvassing board met
- 452 ballots were ultimately rejected in Cass County following the 2024 general election
- 13 days — the typical window between Election Day and the canvassing board meeting during which voters can cure ballot issues
Recent Rule Changes
North Dakota voters will encounter two notable changes in this election cycle. First, ballots that arrive after Election Day will no longer be counted, even if postmarked before Election Day — a policy shift brought about by a change in state law. Previously, late-arriving ballots with valid postmarks were accepted.
Second, voters may now officially drop off their absentee ballot at a designated drop box or the county auditor’s office on Election Day. White indicated that many voters had mistakenly assumed this was already permitted, and the formal rule change should eliminate that confusion.
For voters concerned about whether their ballot has arrived, the state offers an online ballot-tracking tool. If a ballot appears delayed, voters retain the option to cast a vote in person. White noted that the first vote received by officials is the one that will be counted.
Zoom Out
The attention to absentee ballot integrity in North Dakota reflects a broader national conversation about mail-in voting procedures. Several states have tightened absentee requirements in recent years, particularly around signature verification and return deadlines. The right for voters to “cure” rejected ballots — which North Dakota adopted following a 2020 lawsuit involving a Grand Forks woman with multiple sclerosis — has become a standard procedural safeguard in many states, though practices vary widely. For more on recent changes to North Dakota’s election framework, see recent reporting on candidate replacement procedures following a lawmaker’s death.