Election Ballots Shed New Light on Cursive Writing Debate

In the 26 states that don’t require cursive instruction, the lack of ’set signatures’ by younger voters who never learned penmanship may be a concern.

A poster showing third grade pupils how to write in printed and cursive letters runs across the top of a blackboard at an elementary school in Ellicott City, Md., on Oct. 15, 2013. Robert MacPherson/AFP/Getty Images

Election workers, attempting to verify ballots in the 2024 presidential election race, ran into difficulties and delays because signatures on mail-in ballots didn’t match those by the same individuals on Department of Motor Vehicle records.

In Nevada, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said on Nov. 5 that young people “who may not have a set signature” caused delays to the verification process, along with older voters who may have signed their names differently throughout their lives, or those who were recently married but didn’t update their last name changes on voter registration records.