Judge: Texas voters must be notified of signature issues

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge says Texas voters must be notified of any issues with their signature on mailed-in ballots.

In a ruling late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia found that the process used by Texas officials to determine whether a voter’s signature on their ballot envelope matched the signature on the person’s vote-by-mail application violated “certain voters’ constitutional rights.”

Garcia issued the ruling late Tuesday. Texas allows people to apply for a mail-in ballot if they are 65 or older; disabled; outside of the county on Election Day and during early voting; or confined in jail, but otherwise eligible to vote.