Let’s say you decide to vote by mail.
The bad news is if you make a mistake filling it out — even a small one — your ballot can be thrown away. For example, some voters in Nevada had their ballots rejected because of the signature they used to sign their ballots Not identical to the signature of the state on file.
But there is also good news: Often, a voter whose mailed ballot would not otherwise be counted can “cure” that ballot and then have their vote counted. All “cures” mean is that voters are given a chance to fix the disqualification error. Rules vary by state, and if you want to know what the rules are in your state, The National Conference of State Legislatures lists them here.
An important thing to remember is that if you cast a ballot that needs to be cured, both state election officials and your political party may try to contact you by phone, text or email. so, If you vote by mail and get a call from an unknown number within the next few days, it’s best to answer – It could be someone warning you that you’re going to be disenfranchised if you don’t work.
Five of the seven swing states allow ballots to be cured under at least some circumstances:
- Arizona: In Arizona, ballots may be thrown out if an election official determines that the signature on the envelope containing the ballot Signature does not match In a voter registration record. But state law requires election officials to “make reasonable efforts to contact the voter, advise the voter of inconsistent signatures, and allow the voter to make corrections.” Voters can amend signatures up to the fifth business day after the election.
- Georgia: Georgia, a ballot Can be rejected for various reasonsincluding if the voter has entered their driving license number incorrectly while submitting their ballot. If a ballot is rejected, state law states that election officials “shall promptly notify the elector of such rejection.” Voters then have three days to cure the ballot, although what they have to do to cure it depends on the reason the ballot was rejected.
- Michigan: In Michigan, the ballot may also be A signature will be rejected due to matching problems. To cure a ballot, the voter must fill out a cure form and return it by 5pm on the third day after the election.
- Nevada: Nevada can also reject ballots because of signature-matching issues. According to state law, if that happens, “the clerk will contact the voter” and tell them what they need to do to cure the ballot. Then the voter must cast the ballot by 5 pm on the sixth day of the election.
- North Carolina: North Carolina may be on the ballot Rejected for various clerical errors. If so, state law says “the county board of elections shall promptly notify the voter of the deficiency and the means by which the voter may remedy the deficiency.”
Again, if you cast a ballot that needs to be cured, you will likely be contacted by an election official, your political party, or both. For this reason, voters who cast their ballots by mail should be wary of phone calls from unknown numbers, as the caller is trying to tell them that their ballot needs to be cured. If you miss that call, and your ballot is disqualified, you may lose your chance to vote in this election.
