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.
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.
“Since the passage of Automatic Voter Registration, more Nevadans than ever sign their names on digital screens that may look different than their pen-to-paper signatures,” Aguilar said in an Election Day statement.
The ballot-counting snafus shed light on another choice that has divided the country during the digital age, though not in a partisan way: 24 states require cursive instruction in public schools.
Nevada is not on that list, nor is New York, the fourth most populated state in the nation behind California, Texas, and Florida, all of which require cursive instruction, according to MyCursive.com, an education company that regularly surveys states.
The Golden State mandated penmanship instruction with the passage of Assembly Bill 446 in October of last year. It requires handwriting instruction in grades 1-6. Kentucky passed a similar law in April, though its mandate doesn’t take effect until the 2025-2026 academic year.
On Nov. 8, MyCursive issued a new report titled “Can Cursive Swing an Election (2028, We’re Looking at You)?”
“Gen Z votes: 50 percent-plus don’t know cursive. They have to either print their name or try their best to sign, creating potential mismatches. These votes are set aside, giving limited time to cure the ballot. No cure = no vote. Multiple elections, especially in swing states, are coming down to a few thousand, hundreds, or even tens of votes,” the report said.
