Michigan Regulations § R. 168.24 Explanations for differences in signatures
Regulation Text
Rule 4.
(1)
Elections officials shall consider the following as possible explanations for the discrepancies in signatures:
(a)
Evidence of trembling or shaking in a signature could be health-related or the result of aging.
(b)
The voter may have used a diminutive of their full legal name, including, but not limited to, the use of initials, or the rearrangement of components of their full legal name, such as a reversal of first and last names, use of a middle name in place of a first name, or omitting a second last name.
(c)
The voter's signature style may have changed slightly over time.
(d)
The signature may have been written in haste.
(e)
The surface of the location where the signature was made may have been rough, soft, uneven, or unstable.
(2)
In addition to the characteristics listed in
R 168.23
(2)(f) and (g)
, the elections official may also consider factors applicable to a particular voter, such as the age of the voter, the age of the signature or signatures contained in the voter's record, the possibility that the voter is disabled, the voter's primary language, and the quality of any digitized signature or signatures contained in the voter's record, and any other plausible reason given by the voter that satisfies the clerk when following up on a questionable signature.
History
2022