• The voter’s name is not on the official roster of voters and the election officer cannot verify the voter’s voting eligibility on Election Day. The Elections Official’s Office will check the registration records. If further research determines that the voter is eligible to vote in the election, the provisional ballot will be counted.

• A voter has moved within the county, but did not re-register to vote. The Elections Official will verify the voter’s prior registration before the provisional ballot will be counted. The voter’s registration will then be updated with the voter’s current address.

• Records indicate that the voter requested an absentee ballot and the voter fails to turn in the absentee ballot at the polls on Election Day. The Elections Official’s Office will check the records, and if the voter did not vote an absentee ballot, the voter’s provisional ballot will be counted.

• The voter is a first- time Federal Election voter in the county and was unable to provide the required proof of identification. The Elections Official’s Office will verify the voter’s eligibility to vote by comparing the signature on the voter’s registration with the signature on the provisional ballot envelope.

Provisional ballots are counted during the official canvass when:

Prior to the completion of the official canvass (the vote tally), the Elections Official’s Office establishes, from voter registration records, the claimant’s right to vote the ballot.

OR

By order of the Superior Court in the county of the voter’s residence, a voter may seek a court order to require his or her ballot to be counted, at any time prior to the completion of the official canvass. Any judicial action or appeal shall have priority over all other civil matters.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) requires each state or local elections official to establish a “Free Access System,” such as a toll-free telephone number for voters to call or an Internet website that voters can access free of charge, to ascertain if they voted a provisional ballot at the polls, whether or not their vote was counted, and, if it was not counted, the reason why it was not counted.

Each County Elections Official’s Office has established a Free Access System for voters to determine if their Provisional Ballot was counted and, if it was not counted, the reason why it was not counted. For information about how to access each county’s Provisional Voting Free Access System, click here.


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