How to Make Sure Your Advance Ballot Is Counted
If you show up at the polling station on Election Day and are told that you cannot vote – the records may indicate that you are not registered – we hope you did not forget to ask to vote temporarily. Provisional ballots are only counted if it is determined that you are eligible to vote, so you should definitely check the ballot to make sure your vote has been recorded.
What is pre-voting?
All states except Idaho, Minnesota and New Hampshire have a procedure to pre-accept your vote and determine in the following days whether or not it should be counted. (These states do not have temporary ballots because they register on the same day, so if you are told that you are not registered, you can register locally.) Often you will fill out a paper ballot and the election officials must provide you information on how to proceed.
If your candidate wins (or loses) during a landslide, preliminary ballots don’t really matter. They usually represent a small percentage of all ballots submitted. But in close races, they are of great importance. Ballot counting continues right now in the race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp for governor of Georgia.
Find out the rules for your state
The process for counting temporary ballots varies from state to state. In Georgia, you can check the status of your ballot paper online . Georgia Democrats also have a Voter Defense Hotline at 1-888-730-5816.
In Georgia, ballots are counted three days after the elections. Each state has its own time frame : two days in New Mexico, 20 days in Hawaii, “reasonable time after elections” in Maine.
You may need to provide information to calculate your vote. For example, if you were turned down because you did not have the required identification, you may have to show your identification at the polling office. ( Information on Georgia ‘s preliminary ballots is available here .)
According to FiveThirtyEight, fifteen other races of national importance are too close to be named : Senate races in Arizona, Florida and Mississippi, and 12 House races in California, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota (which does not issue preliminary ballots), New Jersey , Utah, North Carolina and Washington. If you have previously voted in any of these races and have not heard of the status of your ballot, contact your state electoral commissions today.