Don't be Rejected

Ballots in envelopes with no signature are automatically rejected. It happens hundreds of times in every election.

Look at the back of the envelope (where you will seal it). Be sure to:

• find the spot where it asks for your signature
• Using only blue or black ink:
• Sign it
• Write in the address at which you are registered to vote
• Date it

Black or Blue. It says so right in the instructions on the ballot. Believe them, it matters.

Ink Pen, not markers or highlighters.

Fill in the entire oval.

No X’s or √'s

Oh, and NO red ink.  

Don’t lose your vote over the wrong pen! 

BTW, if you make a mistake, you can get a new ballot. Anytime on or before 1 week before election day, go online and request a replacement ballot.

You do not have to MAIL your mail-in ballot!

There are official Ballot Drop Off boxes are all over Santa Clara County.

You can drop your ballot off in any of them.

Find them HERE 24 hours a day starting a month before election day. 

Ballot Drop Off Boxes are open 24/7.

They will be emptied for the last time at 8:00 pm on ELECTION DAY, the same time the polls close.

Any ballot dropped in after that will not be counted.

VOTE EARLY!  DROP OFF YOUR BALLOT EARLY!

Your signature on the envelope will be checked against the one in your registration file.

It's got to be close.

Two things to check:

1. If you’re not sure what your official registration signature looks like, look at your driver’s license or state ID. For most people that's what's on file, so make sure your ballot envelope signature looks close to that signature. Make sure your signature matches
2. Your name is pre-printed on the return envelope, just below where they ask you to sign. Check it. 

Sign to match what's on the envelope, even if it's not your usual signature!

That is your official name in the voter roster. It’s probably the name you signed when you registered.

If it says “Robert,” you should not sign as “Bob.” If it shows your middle initial, use it in your signature. 

Sounds dumb, but envelope mistakes are among the most common reasons for rejected ballots!

First - Use Only the special return envelope that came with your ballot. No other envelope will be accepted.

 Now, if you live alone, and you've used the envelope provided, you can go on to the next way to avoid rejection . . .

BUT, if there's more than one voter in your home, everyone needs to know this:

Second - Match the Ballot Code to the Envelope Code

Every mail-in ballot comes with a return envelope that has a code number on it that must match the number on ALL the matching ballot sheets.

Sometimes members of the same household accidentally mix up their election materials and return their ballot sheets in another household member’s envelope. That invalidates your ballot!

Double check to make sure the code number on EVERY ONE of your ballot sheets matches the code number on your return envelope.

Sign the envelope before you send it

Ballots in envelopes with no signature are automatically rejected. It happens hundreds of times in every election.

Look at the back of the envelope (where you will seal it). Be sure to:

• find the spot where it asks for your signature, then
• Using only blue or black ink:

1. Sign it
2. Write in the address at which you are registered to vote
3. Date it

Using the US Mail to send your ballot is convenient. You can be anywhere in the country (or even the world) and send your ballot by mail.

But you need to send it early enough.

If you can't mail it at least a full week or more before Election Day, your best bet is to use a Ballot Drop Off Box or turn your envelope in at a Vote Center.

A mailed-in ballot has to be postmarked by 8:00pm on Election Day, and received by the Registrar of Voters within a week of Election Day.

Postmarks are not instant. They do not happen just because the envelope went into a mailbox.

The postmark is not necessarily even applied at the Post Office in the same ZIP code.  

When mail is collected from postal boxes, it's usually grouped and sent to a Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC), where the postmark is applied. That may not happen the same night as the pickup.

For example: If the posted pickup time at your mailbox is 3:00pm weekdays, and you mail your ballot at 3:30pm on the Friday before Election Day, your ballot won’t even be picked up until 3:00pm on the following Monday. If anything goes wrong on the way to and through the P&DC, your envelope might not get postmarked until after the deadline on Election Tuesday, even though you mailed it four whole days in advance.

If it's getting late:

Find Nearest Ballot Drop Off Box

or

Find a Vote Center

Yes, it happens. People do mail empty envelopes.

But there’s an easy way to check if your ballot is there, in the envelope.

There’s a little hole in the envelope. They put it near where you sign the envelope, so you won't miss it.

It’s there so you can check that your ballot is actually in there before you seal the envelope, sign, date, and return it.

Check the hole.

If you live alone, this error probably won't happen to you.

BUT, if there's more than one voter in your home, sheets of pages from other people's ballots can accidentally get mixed up. Sheet B of my ballot may end up in your envelope, and the reverse. That can invalidate both our ballots!

Do this, just to be safe:

1. Make a separate stack of sheets for each code number. Check the code numbers on every sheet of every mail-in ballot. Make sure they all match
2. Check that each stack has all the ballot sheets (and no extras).
3. Ballot sheets are "numbered" at the top corners of each page using letters, starting with A
4. Match the ballot stack's code number with the code number on a return envelope
5. Take your ballot stack and matching envelope, make sure you've voted, stuff the envelope, sign, date, and seal it 
6. Take it to a Drop Box or a Vote Center anywhere in Santa Clara County, or mail it if you have enough time.
7. Track your Ballot   Sign up for alerts from Track Your Ballot   

When you sign the outside of the envelope, there is also a line to put the date.

Very carefully and legibly, write the date that you put your completed ballot into the envelope near your signature on the return envelope. Use the format mm/dd/yyyy.

Seems strange to be so fussy, but that date can be very important.

Up to 30% of ballots received from the U.S. postal service have postmarks that are either missing or unreadable, so the date you write on the envelope could be the only proof that you voted on time. Even if you used a Drop Off Box or turned your envelope in at a Vote Center, it's an extra piece of evidence if your ballot is ever challenged.

If any of the previous 10 problems (or others) happen, you will get a letter (yes, a real, in the US mail, aka snail-mail, PAPER LETTER) from the County Registrar of Voters (ROV), telling you:

• the reason your ballot was rejected,
• how you can fix the problem,
• the deadline for getting that done (it will be a VERY SHORT time)

So, after (or even before) you send off your mail-in ballot: 

• Go to Where's My Ballot and sign up to get updates on your ballot's status: by txt, email, and/or phone call.

• Start checking your USPS mailbox every day for any letter from the Registrar of Voters. The letter could come anytime up through a month after election day. If you get one, Respond Immediately! If you do not, your ballot will probably be invalidated.

While mail-in ballots can not be counted until election night, starting a week before Election Day they can be checked for errors.

So you could be contacted even before election night, if, for instance, there's no signature on your envelope. All they'll want you to do is come sign your envelope so that it can be counted (yes, they really do want to help). 

County elections officials are required by law to turn in the results of the ballot count by the 31st day after the election, so rejections must be resolved quickly.