Reports: Thousands of vote-by-mail ballots not accepted

If you are voting by mail, you may want to rethink your method. A new report shows that thousands of ballots are being tossed out.

The new study comes from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida.. Researchers say that a lack of uniformity among all of Florida's counties is leading to the number of rejected vote-by-mail. The number of rejected vote-by-mail ballots vary greatly across the state.

The study says that the absentee ballots of young voters and minorities are more likely to be rejected than other groups. The ACLU says it does not know why certain groups are rejected more often, but ballots are often flagged for missing or mismatched signatures.

Some officials are calling for uniform standards for mail-in votes, while others say the best way to avoid issues is to vote in person.

The Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, Howard Simon, says that "Whether your vote counts or not should not depend on your zip code. It should not depend on the county that you live in. We need more uniform standards."

He also went on to say that "In order to protect your vote and in order to ensure that your vote is counted, you need to take steps to track your ballot, you need to take steps to cure it if your ballot is rejected by your supervisor of elections."

It is important to note that the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections is disputing some of the findings of the report, pointing to a 2016 federal court ruling that directs county supervisors to contact people whose signatures have been rejected.

Voting-by-mail has become increasingly popular each year. During the 2016 election, nearly 30% of those who voted did so by mail.