Ballot tracking is a tool voters and election officials use to track ballots sent to mail-in voters. Ballot tracking reports updates in the ballot's delivery and processing. This allows the voter to know when they will receive their ballot, if their ballot has been successfully delivered, and if their ballot has been successfully counted.
Example of USPS intelligent mail barcode used to track letters and packages
All states send ballots with unique numbers linked to the voter. US Postal Service scans this number and sends its status to the voter or third-party tracking service, depending on the state.[1][2]
All voters can choose to be notified by USPS's Informed Delivery Service to track delivery of their ballot to their address.[3]
Voters can then go to their state's tracking website where they enter personal information, like address, DOB to find the status of their ballot.
Some states, such as California, automatically send ballot status updates to all voters.[2]
As of Sept. 2020, 51 million US voters choose to have their ballot mailed, 49 million have their ballot application automatically mailed, 99 million can vote by mail, and 34 million can vote by mail for disabilities.[5][6]
In the 2020 elections, 65 million voters used mail in voting.[3]
FunctionsEdit
Ballot Scout, Ballot TRACE, TrackMyVote, and BallotTrax all have online portals where users can type in their voter information to see the status of their ballot.
BallotTrax uses a notification system to notify their users by text and email when their ballot will be arriving.
AdvantagesEdit
Ballot tracking helps under-staffed voting offices run smoother. Ballot tracking allows offices to expect and look out for lost ballots. Ballot tracking notifies users for improperly filled-out ballots.[2]
ServicesEdit
BallotTraxEdit
BallotTrax (ballottrax.com) was developed by Denver based development company i3Logix. As of August 2020, their websites boasts BallotTrax as "The World's First Complete Mail Ballot Locator & Notification System". States such as North Carolina and California have begun using BallotTrax to notify voters of their ballot status.[7][8]
As of 2020, BallotTrax is the largest ballot tracking service.[2]
BallotTrax was used by 25 states in the 2020 election. It is estimated they have helped track 60 million ballots since 2009.[3]
Ballot TRACEEdit
Changes in Colorado law caused an increase in voters who chose to vote by mail in the November 3, 2009 election. This prompted Colorado to create a simple version of a ballot tracking service which allowed voters to look up their ballot and see if their local county election official had received it.[9]
They entered into a partnership with i3Logix,[10] along with the USPS to create a system named i3Ballot, which was renamed to the more friendly, recognizable Ballot TRACE.[9]
TrackMyVoteEdit
Hosted by trackmymail.com,[9] TrackMyVote is an Absentee Ballot Tracking service with which, you can track your ballot to and from the voting official's office to add accountability in the vote-by-mail process.[8]
Ballot ScoutEdit
Created by non-profit Democracy Works their website democracy.works/ballot-scout claims to help USPS use intelligent mail barcodes to absentee ballots. With this and their notification network, they give voters and officials updates on their ballot's status.[11][12]
ReferencesEdit
^Campisi, Jessica (October 2, 2020). "How to track your mail-in ballot". CNN. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^ abcdeFowler, Geoffrey A. "Review | How to track your ballot like a UPS package". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
^ abcdPanetta, Grace. "How to track your mail-in ballot at every step and make sure it's counted in November". Business Insider. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
^Conner, Katie (November 4, 2020). "Over 69 million people have voted by mail. Here's how you can track your ballot online". CNET. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^Jenny Blessing, Julian Gomez, McCoy Patino, Tran Nguyen (2020). "Security Survey and Analysis of Vote-by-Mail Systems". arXiv:2005.08427 [cs.CY].{{cite arXiv}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Rabinowitz, Kate; Mayes, Brittany Renee (September 25, 2020). "Vote by mail: Which states allow absentee voting". Washington Post. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^"Where's My Ballot? :: California Secretary of State". www.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^ ab"TrackMyMail – Products". www.trackmymail.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^ abcScarpello, Michael J. "2010 Professional Practices Program; Ballot TRACE; City and County of Denver, Colorado" (PDF). Election Center. (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2013.
^Kenney, Andrew (September 14, 2020). "Colorado Now Offers Automatic Ballot Tracking For Every Voter". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^"Ballot Scout". Democracy Works. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^"Delta Township, MI". www.deltami.gov. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
October 17, 2023
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Ballot tracking is a tool voters and election officials use to track ballots sent to mail in voters Ballot tracking reports updates in the ballot s delivery and processing This allows the voter to know when they will receive their ballot if their ballot has been successfully delivered and if their ballot has been successfully counted Example of USPS intelligent mail barcode used to track letters and packages Contents 1 Methods 2 Mailed ballots in 2020 3 Functions 4 Advantages 5 Services 5 1 BallotTrax 5 2 Ballot TRACE 5 3 TrackMyVote 5 4 Ballot Scout 6 ReferencesMethods EditAll states send ballots with unique numbers linked to the voter US Postal Service scans this number and sends its status to the voter or third party tracking service depending on the state 1 2 All voters can choose to be notified by USPS s Informed Delivery Service to track delivery of their ballot to their address 3 Voters can then go to their state s tracking website where they enter personal information like address DOB to find the status of their ballot Some states such as California automatically send ballot status updates to all voters 2 Tracking websites by state 2020 4 State Link Can notify users 3 Alabama https myinfo alabamavotes gov voterview Some countiesAlaska https myvoterinformation alaska gov Some countiesArizona https my arizona vote AbsenteeTracker aspx Some countiesArkansas https www voterview ar nova org VoterView Some countiesCalifornia https california ballottrax net voter YesColorado https colorado ballottrax net voter YesConnecticut https portaldir ct gov sots LookUp aspx Some countiesDelaware https ivote de gov VoterView Some countiesDistrict of Columbia https www dcboe org Voters Absentee Voting Track Absentee Ballot Un knownFlorida https registration elections myflorida com CheckVoterStatus Some countiesGeorgia https www mvp sos ga gov MVP mvp do YesHawaii https ballotstatus hawaii gov ballotreceipt Some countiesIdaho https elections sos idaho gov ElectionLink ElectionLink VoterSearch aspx Some countiesIllinois https www elections il gov ElectionOperations ElectionAuthorities aspx Some countiesIndiana https indianavoters in gov Some countiesIowa https sos iowa gov elections absenteeballotstatus absentee search Some countiesKansas https myvoteinfo voteks org voterview Some countiesKentucky https vrsws sos ky gov VIC Some countiesLouisiana https voterportal sos la gov Home VoterLogin Some countiesMaine https apps web maine gov cgi bin online AbsenteeBallot ballot status pl Some countiesMaryland https voterservices elections maryland gov VoterSearch Some countiesMassachusetts https www sec state ma us wheredoivotema track trackmyballot aspx Some countiesMichigan https mvic sos state mi us Voter Index Some countiesMinnesota https mnvotes sos state mn us AbsenteeBallotStatus aspx Some countiesMississippi https www sos ms gov Elections Voting Pages default aspx NoMissouri https www sos mo gov elections goVoteMissouri localelectionauthority NoMontana https app mt gov voterinfo Some countiesNebraska https www votercheck necvr ne gov voterview Some countiesNevada https www nvsos gov votersearch YesNew Hampshire https app sos nh gov Public AbsenteeBallot aspx Some countiesNew Jersey https www nj gov state elections vote track my ballot shtml Some countiesNew Mexico https voterportal servis sos state nm us WhereToVote aspx Some countiesNew York https nysballot elections ny gov TrackMyBallot Search Some countiesNorth Carolina https northcarolina ballottrax net voter YesNorth Dakota https vip sos nd gov AbsenteeTracker aspx Some countiesOhio https www sos state oh us elections voters toolkit ballot tracking Some countiesOklahoma https okvoterportal okelections us Some countiesOregon https secure sos state or us orestar vr showVoterSearch do Some countiesPennsylvania https www pavoterservices pa gov pages ballottracking aspx Some countiesRhode Island https vote sos ri gov Home UpdateVoterRecord ActiveFlag 3 Some countiesSouth Carolina https info scvotes sc gov eng voterinquiry VoterInformationRequest aspx PageMode AbsenteeInfo Some countiesSouth Dakota https vip sdsos gov VIPLogin aspx Some countiesTennessee https tnmap tn gov voterlookup Some countiesTexas https webservices sos state tx us FPCA index aspx Some countiesUtah https votesearch utah gov voter search search search by voter track mail ballot Some countiesVermont https mvp vermont gov Some countiesVirginia https www elections virginia gov citizen portal YesWashington https voter votewa gov WhereToVote aspx Some countiesWest Virginia https services sos wv gov Elections Voter AbsenteeBallotTracking Some countiesWisconsin https myvote wi gov en US TrackMyBallot Some countiesWyoming https sos wyo gov Elections Docs WYCountyClerks AbsRequest VRChange pdf NoMailed ballots in 2020 EditAs of Sept 2020 51 million US voters choose to have their ballot mailed 49 million have their ballot application automatically mailed 99 million can vote by mail and 34 million can vote by mail for disabilities 5 6 In the 2020 elections 65 million voters used mail in voting 3 Functions EditBallot Scout Ballot TRACE TrackMyVote and BallotTrax all have online portals where users can type in their voter information to see the status of their ballot BallotTrax uses a notification system to notify their users by text and email when their ballot will be arriving Advantages EditBallot tracking helps under staffed voting offices run smoother Ballot tracking allows offices to expect and look out for lost ballots Ballot tracking notifies users for improperly filled out ballots 2 Services EditBallotTrax Edit BallotTrax ballottrax com was developed by Denver based development company i3Logix As of August 2020 their websites boasts BallotTrax as The World s First Complete Mail Ballot Locator amp Notification System States such as North Carolina and California have begun using BallotTrax to notify voters of their ballot status 7 8 BallotTrax grew 10x in 2020 2 As of 2020 BallotTrax is the largest ballot tracking service 2 BallotTrax was used by 25 states in the 2020 election It is estimated they have helped track 60 million ballots since 2009 3 Ballot TRACE Edit Changes in Colorado law caused an increase in voters who chose to vote by mail in the November 3 2009 election This prompted Colorado to create a simple version of a ballot tracking service which allowed voters to look up their ballot and see if their local county election official had received it 9 They entered into a partnership with i3Logix 10 along with the USPS to create a system named i3Ballot which was renamed to the more friendly recognizable Ballot TRACE 9 TrackMyVote Edit Hosted by trackmymail com 9 TrackMyVote is an Absentee Ballot Tracking service with which you can track your ballot to and from the voting official s office to add accountability in the vote by mail process 8 Ballot Scout Edit Created by non profit Democracy Works their website democracy works ballot scout claims to help USPS use intelligent mail barcodes to absentee ballots With this and their notification network they give voters and officials updates on their ballot s status 11 12 References Edit Campisi Jessica October 2 2020 How to track your mail in ballot CNN Retrieved October 28 2020 a b c d e Fowler Geoffrey A Review How to track your ballot like a UPS package Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved December 2 2020 a b c d Panetta Grace How to track your mail in ballot at every step and make sure it s counted in November Business Insider Retrieved December 2 2020 Conner Katie November 4 2020 Over 69 million people have voted by mail Here s how you can track your ballot online CNET Retrieved October 28 2020 Jenny Blessing Julian Gomez McCoy Patino Tran Nguyen 2020 Security Survey and Analysis of Vote by Mail Systems arXiv 2005 08427 cs CY a href Template Cite arXiv html title Template Cite arXiv cite arXiv a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Rabinowitz Kate Mayes Brittany Renee September 25 2020 Vote by mail Which states allow absentee voting Washington Post Retrieved October 28 2020 Where s My Ballot California Secretary of State www sos ca gov Retrieved October 28 2020 a b TrackMyMail Products www trackmymail com Retrieved October 28 2020 a b c Scarpello Michael J 2010 Professional Practices Program Ballot TRACE City and County of Denver Colorado PDF Election Center Archived PDF from the original on October 26 2013 Kenney Andrew September 14 2020 Colorado Now Offers Automatic Ballot Tracking For Every Voter Colorado Public Radio Retrieved October 28 2020 Ballot Scout Democracy Works Retrieved October 28 2020 Delta Township MI www deltami gov Retrieved October 28 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ballot tracking in the United States amp oldid 1126491654, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
