HB2785 Summary

• Establishes signature verification procedures for early ballots using broad and local characteristic analysis, with two-reviewer process for discrepancies, and codifies standards from the 2020 Secretary of State signature verification guide.

• Beginning in 2026, allows voters to present identification when submitting mailed early ballots at voting locations; ballots verified this way bypass signature verification and are immediately deemed ready for tabulation.

• Requires county recorders to submit daily lists of voters with missing or inconsistent signatures to qualified political parties for cure efforts during early voting through election day and during the cure period.

• Accelerates canvass timelines: county boards must canvass primary elections by the second Monday after and general elections by the third Thursday after; Secretary of State must canvass primary elections by third Thursday and general elections by third Monday.

• Requires Secretary of State to certify recount facts to superior court within 24 hours after the last county canvass; expands hand-count procedures in recounts to include five percent random sampling of precincts for legislative, statewide, and federal races.