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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 26, 2004 Since You Asked Verifying votes can be a long procedure In a Mail Tribune article concerning the certification of the election, the last paragraph reads, "Some ballots were rejected because signatures did not match signatures on the corresponding voter registration cards." Just curious, what kind of checking is actually done do verify signatures? Are we talking a handwriting comparison, or just making sure it is the same name? — Howard G., Central Point Jackson County Clerk Kathy Beckett says each of the 103,026 ballots cast in November’s election was scrutinized by at least one of the 10 people assigned to check signatures. The process, says Beckett, is as follows: Each ballot that comes into the elections office is scanned with a bar-code reading device. The voter’s signature pops up on a computer screen where that signature, taken from the voters’ registration card, is visually compared to the signature that is on the back of the voter’s ballot. Advertisement If it doesn’t appear to match, it is given to a second checker. If that person cannot see a clear match either, the ballot is held out of the tabulation process until proper signature verification can be made. The staff at the elections office attempts to contact the voter by phone or by mail to offer them full advantage of the 10-day verification period, says Beckett. In November’s election, about 900 ballots needed further verification. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers