Registrar’s office demonstrates new Auto Signature Verification tool ahead of special election
Athena Jreij
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Riverside County Registrar of Voters held a demonstration for its auto signature verification tool, or ‘ASV’ ahead of the November 4th special election.
The new tool implements software in the Registrar’s sorting machines that compare voter signatures on a ballot to those in their voter profile, completing the verification process in just seconds.
“The process that we’ve been using without this technology is simply turning around ballots to take an image of the signature so we can compare it manually against our voter registration system,” Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco said.
Once put into the sorting machine, ballots are photographed by cameras reading signatures and comparing them to those on voter’s registration files. Those ballots are then sorted into ‘MSV’ and ‘ASV’ buckets. ‘MSV’, or manual signature verification buckets indicate the ballot did not pass the test and need another check by an employee.
The sorters scan ballots for at least a 45% confidence rate. Ballots below that rating are automatically put into the manual verification pile.
“We are looking for similarities not differences, So, we are looking for the similarities in the loops or looking at the similarities and just the way the signature is laid out. There is also an option in our election management system to look at past records, which we can also use, which is registration records that are saved on file,” Tinoco said.
While the technology is new to Riverside County, it’s already being used in San Diego and San Bernardino.
Once fully implemented, the Registrar estimates ‘ASV’ could cut back on their staffing by more than half.
“We do hire about 1,000 temporary employees, but for this process on this campus we’re hiring about 400,” Tinoco said.
Since the program is being piloted, all mail-in ballots that run through ‘ASV’ will be manually verified by employees after.
Officials estimate if the pilot goes well, it could be fully implemented by June 2, 2026 for the state gubernatorial primary.
Riverside County residents can see the process up close for themselves by attending an election observer tour. For more information, visit: https://rivco.org/news/election-observer-tours.