Forged Signatures On Voting Ballots

Tools

Story Published: Oct 27, 2008 at 5:24 PM PST

By Audrey Asistio

Watch the story
YAKIMA -- When Action News reporter Audrey Asistio received another person's ballot in the mail, she couldn't help but wonder if some voters are filling out other people's ballots, trying to get that extra vote illegally. The Yakima County Auditor says, yes, it's happening. She says they have received a large number of ballots with forged signatures, but she says those ballots won't count.

Each ballot is double-checked against your original signature from when you signed up to vote. If the signatures don't match, the vote isn't counted.

Yakima County Auditor Corky Mattingly tells Action News, "We pull it and then the election supervisor and the elections office coordinator goes through those to see if they can confirm them. If they're still questioned then it goes to the canvassing board. The canvassing board has the final say of the whole process."

That final say could cost you jail time if you are caught filling out someone else's ballot. Forgery is a felony and prosecutors say even without criminal history, you can still spend up to two months in jail. So if you get someone else's ballot in the mail, keep your hands off it and just let the auditor's office know. The county auditor says a lot of the forged signatures they've found are from moms filling out their children's ballots. It doesn't matter if your child is away at school because filling out the ballot for them is against the law.

Current Weather

Icon
Current Temp 38.0 °F
Overcast
Watch the story
More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand

Resources and info you need to prepare for the switch to DTV.

Stay Connected