6 Steps to Ensure Your Mail-In Ballot Is Counted

Posted on 10/20/20 by Dena Bunis

A record number of Americans will be casting their ballots this year from the COVID-free safety of their homes. Many will be voting this way for the first time.

As of October 20, more than 20 million Americans had already voted via an absentee, or mail-in, ballot. During voting in 2016 and 2018, about 1 percent of absentee ballots were rejected, according to a report by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). If those percentages hold, hundreds of thousands of ballots could go uncounted this year and potentially change the outcome of the presidential election in key battleground states.

Here's how the experts say you can avoid the most common mistakes to make sure your vote will count. These are general guidelines. Refer to the AARP voting guide for your state for detailed information on the rules where you live.

Follow the instructions

You might be able to get away with just glancing at the instructions when you're putting together that new piece of furniture you ordered online, but the stakes are higher when it comes to your ballot.

"It's really important to follow the instructions,” says Amber McReynolds, founder of the National Vote at Home Institute and one of the authors of Colorado's vote by mail law. (Colorado, along with California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, mailed ballots to all registered voters this year; not just to voters who requested one.)

The instructions will be very specific and must be followed to the letter, McReynolds says. For example: “If it says use black or blue ink, or fill in just the oval (on an optical scanner ballot), that's really, really important."

This is not a case of once you've seen one ballot you've seen them all. Elections in the United States are run by states and counties and cities, so ballots can be different in every jurisdiction and so will the instructions.

Sign your ballot

While ballots will vary from state to state and sometimes county to county, what is common is that somewhere you will have to sign it — often on the outside of the envelope — so election officials can verify your identity. When they receive your ballot and begin to process it, election workers will check that the signature on the envelope or flap matches the signature on your voter registration record.

In 2016, the EAC found that 20 percent of the ballots that were rejected were thrown out because the signature on the ballot didn't match the one on file.

Avoid stray marks

In most states, ballots will consist of multiple pages with many contests beyond just the presidential race. There may be races for members of Congress, state and local judges, ballot initiatives and local charter changes.

Make sure you've made up your mind before you make any marks on your ballot. A stray mark or putting a check in the oval instead of filling it in completely can invalidate your ballot.

If you do make a mistake, contact your local elections office to learn how you can get another ballot. But you can avoid that step by filling it out right the first time.

Determine witness requirements

This article originally appeared on AARP.org in October 2020

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