SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Mayor’s race is still extremely close as votes continue to be counted ahead of the April 4 certification deadline.
One candidate is concerned about ballots being challenged and disqualified.
Sacramento Mayor candidate Dr. Richard Pan says he's worried about ballots being disqualified due to mismatching signatures. The American Civil Liberties Union sued California in 2017 after tens of thousands of ballots were rejected due to differences in signatures and won, resulting in a new rule requiring voters to be notified of a mismatched signature. Even with this, Pan still has concerns.
“What studies have shown is that... Asian Americans may sign with their real signature in characters instead of what may be reflected in their filing or DMV and their ballot may be rejected,” said Pan.
Pan is referencing the Asian American Advancing Justice report that says signature rejection is 15% higher for Asian Americans than other races.
He says one of his family members experienced this issue in Sacramento County. That family member was contacted by the county about the issue.
The county contacts everyone with a mismatched or missing signature.
“The county does do some of that effort themselves but I would again say Asian Americans are more likely to have that happen if the persons primary language is not English, the county’s outreach efforts may not reach that person,” said Pan.
The Center for Inclusive Democracy did a study based on the 2020 election results and found Asian Americans had the same signature rejection rate as other demographics.
According to the Sacramento County Voter Registrar, this happens in less than .2% of all ballots. Ken Casparis works in the office and says this is a normal issue that happens every year.
“There is really no way to tell if they are disproportionately impacted by mismatch signatures in this race except anecdotally,” said Casparis.
Sacramento County says they don’t keep data on which candidates have more challenged ballots. They don’t keep track of demographics on mismatched signature ballots.
Candidates running for the mayor position say arguments like this aren't unheard of.
“Election integrity is important, and we support all efforts to ensure that every ballot is counted. We know that this is often a barrier for Asian American voters, and any step to make sure they’re enfranchised and their votes are counted is good for democracy," said mayoral candidate Dr. Flo Cofer.
“This is a normal part of the campaign. Every campaign is helping their folks who might have an issue," said candidate and Assembly member Kevin McCarty.
Candidate, and former Sacramento City Council member Steve Hansen had no comment.
The reach out process is extensive if something is wrong with a ballot. Voters will be called, sent a letter and emailed before a ballot is entirely rejected.
If you were notified about an issue with your ballot, you have two days before the April 4 certification deadline to fix it.
