How to check if your vote has been counted

Once you vote in the midterm or presidential elections, how do you check to make sure your vote has been counted? This answer will vary depending on where you live and how you vote.

There is no standardized national system for tracking whether ballots have been counted. The ballot tracking environment “was a mess because it had 50 different systems, and within each of those 50 systems, [are] Jessica Levinson, an election law professor and expert at Loyola Law School, said:

Levinson said when you vote in person, you can see your ballot being submitted and it’s “a fair bet” your vote will count. As a result, no state offers ballot tracking services for in-person voting.

However, when you mail in your ballot, you can’t see it being processed and there’s more opportunity for mistakes, so most states provide some form of certification for those ballots.

“People are worried about mail-in voting because they’re not the ones physically putting their ballot in someone’s hand or putting it in a box, and I think that’s why tracking is so powerful,” Levinson said.

Overall, most mail-in ballots end up being counted. According to a survey by the Federal Election Assistance Commission, more than 98% of votes cast in the 2020 election were counted and only 0.8% were rejected.

The most common reasons a ballot is rejected are that the signature on the ballot does not match the signature on file; the ballot is missing important documentation such as an affidavit; the voter is not actually eligible to vote in his jurisdiction; the ballot was not received in a timely manner; or the ballot is missing the voter’s signature .

Sometimes people can only cast provisional ballots at polling places, and those ballots often require follow-up by voters or election officials. If you find yourself in this situation, you can ask your local election officials to explain how to check whether your provisional ballot was counted or rejected (some states’ processes are listed below). A written explanation is your legal right under the Help America Vote Act.

If you want to double-check the status of your vote, you have the following options:

you can Check the status of your absentee ballot Online. If you have any further questions, please contact your local elections office.

Track your absentee ballot status at myvoterinformation.alaska.gov.

The Grand Canyon State offers absentee and provisional ballot tracking services: My Arizona Voteand some counties go further. For example, in Maricopa County, you can Sign up for text updates on your mail-in ballot.

View ballot status Enter your name and date of birth on the Arkansas Elections website.

You can check the status of your mail-in ballot or sign up to receive text or email notifications when information is updated.

Colorado Deals Status updates and alerts for mail-in ballots.

look If and when you receive your absentee ballot.

State provided Inquiry service Absentee and provisional ballots.

In Washington, D.C., you can check the status of your absentee ballot online. If you have been asked to cast a special ballot, check its status here.

Provided by the Sunshine State Track mail-in ballots. For assistance with provisional ballots, Contact your local elections office.

Both absentee and provisional ballots can be cast at the state’smy electorate page”.

Residents can visit ballotstatus.hawaii.gov Check to see if their mail-in ballot has been received.

Enter your Idaho information Voter Recording Tool Check the status of your mail-in ballot.

Although some counties use mail-in ballot tracking software (Cook County has two portals) suburbanite and those in city ​​of chicago), Illinois only offers statewide tracking for provisional ballots. check your local electoral authority Absentee ballot tracking information.

Check to see if your ballot has been received and counted in Indiana’sMy Voter Portal”.

Absentee Ballot Tracking Applies to the entire state. Contact your county auditor Questions about provisional ballots.

Kansas Deals Track mail-in ballots.

Nervous about your absentee ballot? check its status Use statewide tools.

the state’s “Geaux Vote” portal website Provides tracking information for mail-in ballots.

There’s one in the Pine Tree State Statewide tools Used to track absentee ballots.

you can Check the status of your mail-in or provisional ballot. Provisional ballot status will be provided 10 days after the election.

Find out if your postal vote was rejected or accepted here. you can Check If provisional ballots are counted by phone call Call 1-800-462-VOTE after Election Day.

you can tracking status Your absentee ballot. For provisional ballots, Michigan recommend contact you City or township secretariat.

You can check to see if your mail-in ballot has been received Received and counted. Minnesota is one of the few that owns Same-day voter registrationprovisional ballots are not required.

Mississippi does use ballot tracking software to track absentee and pledge ballots. If you have questions about the vote count, Contact your county election officials.

While some jurisdictions offer tracking of mail-in ballots, including cities British stone. Louis and calhoun countyMissouri does not have statewide ballot tracking.

Track the status of your mail-in ballot: app.mt.gov/voterinfo.

Nebraska provides mail-in ballot status Voter Information Tool.

the state’s Ballotrax website Provide tracking information and opportunities Sign up Receive text or email alerts when your mail-in ballot is received and counted. According to the Nevada Explainer, you can find out the status of your provisional ballot by calling (877) 766-8683.

You can use this status tracker to find out if your ballot was received by your clerk’s office.

Garden State residents can view their ballots on the state website.

Absentee Ballot Tracking Available.

Check your absentee ballot through the state’s Voter Lookup website.

There is a system to check absentee ballot status another for viewing provisional ballot status.

Mail-in ballots are OK Track on the Statewide Portal.

Ohio offers Statewide Tracking for mail-in ballots. Just select your county on the map.

Check the status of your absentee ballot in the state’s voter portal.

Oregon sends a mail-in ballot to every registered voter. They can be tracked at the state government “My Vote” website.

Pennsylvania offers a mail-in ballot tracking service, and you can check to see if your provisional ballot has been counted up to 7 days after the election.

Check the status of your mail-in ballot: vote.sos.ri.gov.

You can track to see if your absentee ballot has been received, but the state reportedly has no plans to show whether it has been accepted.

South Dakota told The Huffington Post that the state’s tracking website will show the date absentee ballots were received, but not the date whether they were counted.

Mail-in ballots are OK Tracking in Tennessee.

Ballot Tracking Available on the Secretary of State’s website.

The state says people whose ballots were rejected will be contacted with instructions on how to resolve the issue, but voters can also check the status of their mail-in and provisional ballots at: Utah Voting Network.

Check the status of your mail-in ballot: MVP.vermont.gov.

Go to elections.virginia.gov Tracking postal votes.

Enter your name and date of birth The state’s voter information portal You can check to see if your ballot has reached its destination.

In the Mountain State, you can track the status of both absentee and provisional ballot.

Wisconsin voters can Look at their electoral history and Track absentee ballots.

“Contact your county clerk For reference,” said website Wyoming Secretary of State. The state does not have general online ballot tracking, but it does publish a list Tracking ballot status for military and overseas voterslisted by voter ID number.

Jenny Campbell contributed reporting. This article was originally published in 2020 and has been updated.