• 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 a vote-by-mail ballot and the voter fails to turn in the vote-by-mail ballot at the polls on Election Day. The Elections Official’s Office will check the records, and if the voter did not vote a vote-by-mail 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 when:

1. Prior to the completion of the official canvass, the elections official determines that the voter is indeed a registered voter who was entitled to cast a ballot; or
2. A court directs the elections official to count the voter's ballot.

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 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. Information on each county elections official's free access system can be found at Provisional Voting Free Access System.


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