WA Supreme Court affirms constitutionality of vote-by-mail signature verification process
Washington state’s high court issued a ruling on March 6 upholding the signature-verification process used on mail-in ballots.
State Supreme Court justices unanimously affirmed that the procedure is constitutional. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, was named as a defendant in the 2022 case, Vet Voice Foundation v. Hobbs.
“We are pleased with the court’s ruling, which affirms our commitment to secure, accessible, and transparent elections in Washington,” Hobbs said in a statement. “Signature verification has been a fundamental part of our state’s vote-by-mail system for decades, helping to protect against fraud while ensuring that every eligible voter’s ballot is counted.”
Vet Voice Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to empower veterans, and two other civic organizations argued that the state’s way of verifying such signatures has disenfranchised tens of thousands of lawful voters.
McClatchy emailed Vet Voice Foundation seeking comment on the ruling, but did not immediately hear back.
The foundation was joined in the lawsuit by The Washington Bus, El Centro de la Raza and four individual plaintiffs. Aside from Hobbs, other defendants included the King County elections director and two members of that county’s canvassing board.
Washington is one of eight states that hold “universal vote by mail” or “all-mail” elections in which registered voters are sent mail-in ballots automatically, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. One of the election-security methods that the state uses to confirm someone’s identity is signature verification.
Plaintiffs in the case claimed that signature verification is an “unconstitutional burden” falling disproportionately on the shoulders of voters of color, non-English speakers, young voters, uniformed service members and others.
They argued that voting fraud is quite rare, and that roughly 40 possible cases of such fraud had happened statewide in recent years — none of which involved mail-ballot signatures.
Defendants, meanwhile, countered that signature verification is necessary amid threats to the state’s election security. Hobbs has previously warned that hostile foreign actors aim to compromise trust in Washington’s election system.
In addition, defendants contended that in a vote-by-mail system such as Washington’s, officials must have a solid way of verifying voter identity and preventing people from casting ballots multiple times. The signature verification system, they said, is a reasonable way to accomplish that — more so than other identification methods that could possibly squelch turnout.
In a 2022 nonpartisan study, Washington ranked second in the nation for voting accessibility. Oregon came in first place.
The Washington Supreme Court’s March 6 ruling ensures that counties can continue using signature verification to confirm ballots. Voters can also still correct any signature problems so that their ballot will count.
Justice Steven C. González noted in the court’s ruling that “all too many ballots are not counted because election workers cannot verify the voter’s signatures and the voter does not or cannot cure their ballot in time.” Plaintiffs argued that this infringes on the state Constitution’s due process, freedom of elections and privileges and immunities clauses.
But the court ultimately sided with Hobbs.
“We conclude that the defendants have shown that signature verification is narrowly tailored and designed to promote the compelling purposes of election security and integrity,” González wrote.
Other critics have taken issue with Washington’s vote-by-mail system, albeit for different reasons. Washington Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh, for instance, has cast doubt on the efficacy of the process and advocated for returning to same-day, in-person voting.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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