Allard Quoted in Washington State Standard on Disparities in Ballot Signature Challenges
Posted: 2026-10-02 12:20:06 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Scott Allard was quoted in a Washington State Standard article titled, “WA Voters of Color More Likely to Have Ballots Challenged, per Report.” The piece covers an analysis of Washington state election data, presented to state lawmakers by University of Washington researchers, showing that younger voters and voters of color have their ballots challenged for signature issues at disproportionately higher rates. While white voters saw 1.5% of their votes scrutinized for signature discrepancies, the rate was 1.9% for Black voters, 2% for Asian voters, and 2.2% for Hispanic voters; the disparity was even sharper by age, ranging from 5.3% among voters 18 to 25 down to 0.7% for those 66 and older. Dr. Allard, co-director of the UW Elections Database Project, noted that while signature challenges have declined in recent years, the same disparities persist in “curing” rates — the process by which voters fix flagged ballots — with white voters correcting more than 59% of challenged ballots compared to under half for Black, Hispanic, and Asian voters. Allard pointed to gaps such as untranslated cure notices and a lack of electronic outreach to younger voters as contributing factors, calling continued efforts to close these disparities important, ongoing work for the state. To read the full article, visit this link. Researchers can also explore data sets, visualizations, articles, and reports at the UW Elections Database Project website, housed by CSDE. Congratulations Dr. Allard and team!