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1. What is a provisional ballot?

A provisional ballot is a regular ballot that is placed in a special envelope prior to being put in the ballot box.

2. Who casts a provisional ballot?

Provisional ballots are ballots cast by voters who:

• Believe they are registered to vote even though their names are not on the official voter registration list at the polling place.
• Vote by mail and instead want to vote at their polling place or a vote center, but they did not receive their ballot or do not have their ballot with them (and the elections official is unable to verify that they have not returned their vote-by-mail ballot).

3. What happens after you cast a provisional ballot?

Your provisional ballot will be counted after elections officials have confirmed that you are registered to vote in that county and you did not already vote in that election.

You may vote a provisional ballot at any polling place in the county in which you are registered to vote, however, only the elections contests you are eligible to vote for will be counted.

4. How can you check the status of your provisional ballot?

Every voter who casts a provisional ballot has the right to find out from their county elections official if the ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why it was not counted. Please call our office at 707-263-2372 or toll-free at 888-235-6730 if you need assistance.