What is the Voter's Choice Act?
The Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) was a bill chaptered into law in 2016 under Senate Bill 450. VCA is a county opt-in program that changes a county’s election model. Counties under the VCA model are required to develop and implement extensive education and outreach activities prior to each election and identify and promote accessible voter for all voter demographics.
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Resources
- VCA Flyer (PDF)
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VCA Educational Videos
- Short Video
- Long Video
Key Elements of Voter’s Choice Act Elections Model
Vote-by-Mail Ballots
Every active, registered voter in participating counties is mailed a ballot 28 days before Election Day.
Complete it. Sign it. Return it.
Voters have three ways to return their vote-by-mail ballots:
- Mail the ballot
- Drop the ballot in a secure county ballot drop box
- Return the ballot to a vote center drop box
Vote Centers
Vote centers replace traditional polling centers. Voters have the freedom to cast a ballot in-person at any vote center in their county instead of being assigned to a single polling location. Vote centers look and feel like polling places, but provide additional modern features to make voting easy and convenient. They are generally open for 4 to 10 days leading up to Election Day, allowing any registered voter in the county to cast their ballot at any center.
Vote centers also provide enhanced accessibility. Each location is required to have a minimum of three voting machines accessible to voters with disabilities. Additionally, vote centers must be conveniently located near public transportation and are established based on county population size to ensure adequate coverage for all voters.
At any vote center in a participating county, a voter may:
- Vote in-person
- Drop off their ballot
- Get a replacement ballot
- Vote using an accessible voting machine
- Get help and voting material in multiple languages
- Register to vote or update their voter registration
Ballot Drop-Off Locations
Ballot drop-off locations provide voters with an additional way to return their ballot, postage-free.
Starting 28 days before Election Day, there is at least one drop-off location for every 15,000 registered voters.
Drop-off locations must be secure, accessible to voters with disabilities, and located as near as possible to public transportation routes.
County Requirements
Voter Education and Public Process for Adopting Election Administration Plans
Every county that adopts the Voter’s Choice Act model is required to draft and adopt a detailed Election Administration Plan through an open, public process that consist of public hearing periods and education workshops with community groups, including organizations that assist voters with disabilities and language minority communities.
View the election administration plans from each VCA county on our VCA Counties web page.
