Provisional Ballots Reaching Historic Numbers This Election

As we’ve been telling you, early voting for the November Mid-term election ends Friday and according to County Registrar Bill Cochran 4,903 voters have cast early ballots in person as of Wednesday morning and 384 absentee paper ballots have been returned.

Additionally, Cochran said they have had 21 provisional ballots cast as of Wednesday during the advance voting period.

That is considered high for this area, according to Cochran.

Controversy surrounding provisional ballots has been in the news recently with reports of voters in some States being turned away at the polls and not allowed to cast a provisional ballot.

That has led to reports of provisional ballots never being counted, but that is not the case.

Cochran says Georgia law forbids turning away anyone who wants to vote.

“We’ve had a record number of provisional ballots, about three times what we normally have. We don’t turn away anyone who is wanting to vote. We want to make sure everybody has the ability to vote,” he said.

Provisional ballots allow a voter to cast a ballot in person even if all the requirements for doing so cannot be met at the time.

Cochran says there are several criteria under which a ballot is considered provisional.

“If a voter is not registered but thinks they have registered in time, we will allow them to vote a provisional ballot. Then, we will research their registration application after the election to make sure the DDS or some other government agency didn’t prevent that application from coming through in time,” he explained.

And there are other reasons for a voter’s ballot to be listed as provisional, according to Cochran. They include:

• A registered voter that did not have the proper photo ID,
• A voter who registered for the first time by mail who did not provide the required information or who did not prove they are who they say they are,
• A voter who registered for the first time in Georgia but did not prove citizenship,
• A voter who cast a ballot during extended poll hours, which would only occur on election day. In federal elections only, if the polling place is kept open after 7:00 PM because of a court order, anyone arriving after 7:00 PM will vote by provisional ballot.
• A voter who identified as living out of precinct but insists they want to vote anyway can vote provisionally,
• A person who did not verify in any of the required categories such as, name, address, social security number, drivers license or legal photo ID

According to Georgia law, a provisional ballot will count if the problem that required a provisional ballot is solved within three days after Election Day.

And if you have to cast a provisional ballot for whatever reason, under federal law you are allowed to ask for a provisional ballot with a receipt.