Opinion ID: 1180991
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Absentee Ballots Without Proper Signature.

Text: Two absentee ballots were received without signatures attached to the voter certificate, as required by AS 15.20.140 and AS 15.20.150. These ballots were not counted. AS 15.20.210(a) provides guidance for regional canvass boards as to which absentee ballots may not be counted after the election. The statute provides in pertinent part: No ballot shall be counted if the voter has failed to properly execute the certificate, if the witnesses or the officer or other person authorized by law to administer the oath fails to affix his signature, or if the voter fails to enclose his marked ballot inside the small envelope provided. This language was noted by the court in Hammond v. Hickel . In holding that the postmark and date stamp provisions for absentee ballots were not mandatory, we noted that AS 15.20.210 did not list absence of a proper postmark or date stamp as a violation of the absentee ballot statute mandating the invalidation of the ballot. 588 P.2d at 269. In contrast, failure to properly execute the voter's certificate is explicitly mentioned. The voter's signature is a basic part of the certificate and failure to properly attach it invalidates the ballot. The case of Lanser v. Koconis, 62 Wis.2d 86, 214 N.W.2d 425 (1974) does not require a different result. In Lanser, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that substantial compliance with the signature requirement of the voter's certificate was sufficient. However it appears that in that case most, if not all, of the challenged ballots had in fact been signed, even if they had not been signed in the proper place. As noted by the special master, the Wisconsin court was influenced by the fact that the voter's certificate and the instructions on how to fill it out were confusing and difficult to understand, and by the fact that the questionable ballots had already been counted and irretrievably commingled. These factors are not present in the instant case.