Causes Voter Center
Causes Voter Center
Causes Voter Center
| 1.19.24

Was Your Mail-in Ballot Received & Accepted?

Check if your ballot was received--and "cure" it if not

If you're one of millions Americans who've already returned a mail-in or absentee ballot, today's a good time to check that your ballot was received.

If your ballot wasn't received or was rejected, you still have time to vote in person or "cure" your ballot.

It's important to check your mail-in ballot status because less than two-thirds of states have processes requiring election officials to notify voters if problems occur with their ballots.

So make sure your ballot was counted.

Track your ballot

Mail-in ballot trackers for all states can be found here.

Here are the direct tracking links for mail-in ballots in the five major battleground states:

If you don't know your state's election website, you can search for it here.

What to do if your ballot wasn't received

Vote in person

If your ballot was received, your first - and best - option is to vote in person. Here's how to do it. Make sure you're in line by the time polls close! As long as you're in line before polls close, you're entitled to vote.

"Cure" your ballot

If your ballot was received but rejected, you may have the option of "curing" your ballot. This is a process by which you correct the issue that led your ballot to be rejected.

Find your state's rules on Ballot Curing here.

 

Good luck today, America is counting on you,

 

—Lorelei Yang & Jamie Epstein & Josh Herman

  • 93.8k
    LeslieG
    11/08/2022

    Our state has an online system that tracks absentee ballot status from requested, mailed, received completed ballot, validated and finally counted.

    If there are any problems they are reported after completed ballot ballot received but before validation completed with opportunities to "cure" problems identified. 

    This is why it's important to vote early if using absentee ballots to have sufficient time to "cure" problems identified.

    0
    Today at 4:41 PM
  • 93.8k
    LeslieG
    11/08/2022

    States have different methods for verifying absentee/mail ballots, such as requiring voters to provide a copy of an identification document, have the absentee/mail ballot witnessed or notarized and/or signature verification.

    Only 24 states (AZ,CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KY, MA, MN, MT, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OR, RI, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA) offer a “cure” process to fix problems identified.

    Absentee/mail ballot verification processes:

    27 states use signature verification on returned absentee/mail ballots (AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, ME, MA, MI, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY, ND, OH, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV)

    9 states, the Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., verify that an absentee/mail ballot envelope has been signed but do not conduct signature verification (CT, DE, DC, KS, MD, NE, NM, PA, VT, WY) 

    9 states require the signature of a witness in addition to the voter’s signature. These states may conduct signature verification as well:

    -AL (two witnesses or a notary)

    -AK (witness or notary)

    -LA, MN (witness or notary)

    -NC (two witnesses or a notary)

    -RI (two witnesses or a notary)

    -SC, VA and WI. (3 Three states require the absentee/mail ballot envelope to be notarized)

    -MI, MS, OK, AR (requires a copy of the voter’s ID to be returned with the absentee/mail ballot)

    -GA, MN, OH ( requires the voter’s driver’s license number or state identification card number, which is compared with the voter’s registration record. Note: Minnesota and Ohio also require this information, though Minnesota also requires a witness signature, and Ohio conducts signature verification.)

    https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-14-how-states-verify-voted-absentee.aspx

    https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-15-states-that-permit-voters-to-correct-signature-discrepancies.aspx

  • 8,878
    M
    11/09/2022

    If there hadn't been poll workers when I dropped off my ballot in a Dropbox a few days ago, I would've forgotten to date it. It's a small area not on the signature line. If they hadn't asked and lent me a pen, I would've dropped it in the box without it. 😳 it would've arrived well before today, but who knows if they would've counted it in the current times we live in. 

    Also, in previous elections there weren't poll workers there. Just the Dropbox. Whew!

     

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    Today at 4:41 PM