Is It My Signature?

A county clerk seemed to think so

I usually publish about OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES. Today, this is MY story.

When mail in balloting became the law in Nevada, there was an opt out option. I like to vote in person, so I opted out. That was for the June primary in 2022.

After voting in person on the software designed by potentially questionable vendors with potentially questionable certification and potentially questionable results, I decided to opt back in. Some would call me an election denier; I prefer an election integrity “questioner”.

I went online, logged onto the Nevada voter registration page, clicked the opt in button and was going to submit, but I was shown a picture of my signature with the question: Is this your signature? I was a little surprised to see it displayed in front of me. Why? Because I wasn’t sure it was mine. Did it “look like” my signature? Kind of.

Like many people, I have certain things I ALWAYS DO when I sign. By way of explanation, my mom had a fabulous signature! She swirled the last letter of her last name and made a huge circle above the “j” in her name, and another one over the “I”. My “flourishes” are not quite as big and bold, but they are identifiable. So, as I pondered if this was my signature, I could not definitively say it was mine. It was definitely similar, but there were certain characteristics that just were not how I would sign. So, despite the fact that I felt I might be creating more of a problem than I needed, I said NO.

I had no idea what would happen next. I thought perhaps I’d receive a post card telling me I needed to prove my identity/signature. Or maybe a phone call. My husband had a call when his signature was questioned so it’s not unreasonable to think they might call me. But none of those things happened.

I submitted my mail in ballot via a drop box at the voting center on 9th Street the day of election, November 8, 2022. I thought I would have to “cure” my ballot. But no one called or contacted me to cure my ballot.

On the last day to cure a ballot, I decided I had to find out if my signature was accepted. The clerk who answered the phone said yes, my ballot was accepted. I told her the story about my signature. To my surprise, she said (and I’m paraphrasing) “This is your signature. They match. I would have accepted it.” I was flabbergasted. Did she not understand that the signature she was viewing (I presume) was the one I said was NOT MINE? Once we discussed it further, she said she would follow up. She did not indicate what that meant or if I would be contacted. I don’t know if she recognized the absurdity of her statement.

I decided to file an Election Integrity Violation Report with our Secretary of State. I got confirmation that they had received my affidavit. According to the website: “The complainant will be notified of any action taken by the Secretary of State.” We’ll see…

If you have a story, please contact me at janice@lrpwhatsthestory.com

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