E
lection Day — your last day to vote — is on Tuesday, Nov. 5. And if you’re a registered California voter, your ballot should be arriving in your mailbox very soon, if it hasn’t already.
But what if you make a mistake on your ballot as you’re filling it out? Or are you just not sure how to fill it out in the first place?
Keep reading to learn how to fill out your ballot, how important your signature is and your options if you need to start again with a fresh ballot. Or jump straight to:
- What are my Bay Area county’s rules on fixing ballot mistakes?
- What happens if I messed up my signature on my ballot?
- I’m worried I wrote the wrong date on my ballot’s envelope
If you’re looking for information about what’s on your ballot, take a look at KQED’s Voter Guide, which unpacks ballot measures and compares candidates in every race in the Bay Area. (And if you want to make sure you’re actually registered to vote correctly, read our guide to checking your voter registration — including why you might need to re-register.)
I messed up. How do I fix a mistake on my ballot?
First, don’t panic.
People make mistakes on ballots, and they also find good ways to correct them. The job of county elections officials — once they’ve verified your signature — is to make sure your ballot can be read correctly. If that means that your corrections on your ballot have resulted in readability issues, officials working in teams of two will actually remake it for you according to the intent you’ve signaled with your corrections.
The main thing to know is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to correcting a mistake on your ballot in California — how a voter corrects a goof is up to the county, and sometimes those “how to fix it” instructions are different from county to county.
Your own county’s advice for how to fix a mistake on your ballot is almost certainly printed on your ballot, so check there first. But here’s what each county’s registrar told KQED about fixing a mistake, so scroll down to find your county or use the quick links below. If they sent us a visual guide, we’ve included that, too.
And if you have a specific question about your ballot that isn’t answered here, you can always contact your local county elections office for advice and instructions.
Alameda
Alameda County did not respond to repeated requests about their instructions to voters who make a mistake on their ballot. We’ll update this guide with further information when we have it, but in the meantime, you can call the Alameda County Registrar of Voters at 510-267-8683 or 800-345-VOTE(8683) with questions about your individual ballot.
Contra Costa
If you make a mistake, Contra Costa County Registrar Kristin Connelly said, “A simple X through the oval of the incorrect choice and a filled-in oval on their correct choice is enough.”
“[A]s long as we can determine what the voter’s intent is, we can make sure we count their vote correctly,” Connelly said. But if you’re still worried about your vote, you can always ask for a replacement to either mail back or use to vote in person. “It’s totally up to the voter and what makes them comfortable and secure that their vote will be counted,” she said.
Santa Clara
Steve Goltiao, associate communications officer with Santa Clara County’s Registrar of Voters, said you can “correct it by crossing out the wrong choice and filling out the correct oval as shown in the picture” below. You should not sign or initial the correction, Goltiao said.
You can also request a replacement ballot by calling 408-299-VOTE [8683] or toll-free 866-430-VOTE [8683]. “Voters may also use the Remote Accessible Vote by Mail System (RAVBM) to download a copy of the ballot that can be printed and returned by mail,” Goltiao said. Read more information for Santa Clara voters about marking and returning ballots.
San Francisco
“[V]oters can request replacement ballots if they make a mistake marking a selection,” San Francisco Department of Elections Director John Arntz told KQED. You can request that new ballot in person at your polling place and, from the San Francisco elections office at City Hall, and by calling or emailing the Department of Election (scroll to the bottom of this link for contact details.) You can also use their Voter Portal online to request a replacement ballot.
But if a voter doesn’t want to (or can’t) request a replacement ballot, Arntz said, “We tell them they can also cross out the incorrect selection, fill in the correct oval, and note on the card they made a mistake.” The reason this is OK, Artnz said, is because the vote-counting machines will recognize and flag any ballot that contains more than the allowed number of votes for a particular race. The ballot is then “moved to manual review or adjudication,” and elections staffers will personally look at the ballot to work out what that voter, in fact, meant.
“When voters indicate they made a mistake, our personnel will remedy the overvote to reflect the voters’ intent, and the card is then tabulated,” Artnz said.
San Mateo
Mark Church, Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer for San Mateo County told KQED that “any additional markings a voter makes including an ‘X’ through a selection choice on the ballot” will mean your ballot gets flagged and placed in a “Challenged” state. Then, your ballot is forwarded to one of the county’s adjudication stations, where a staffer will determine how you meant to vote with your markings.
“Thus, it is preferred that a voter request a replacement ballot if they make a mistake in marking their ballot,” Church said — which you can do in person by visiting one of the county’s 49 Vote Centers or calling the Elections Office at 650-312-5222.
Marin
Marin County voters “can X out the mistake and mark the correct vote,” Lynda Roberts, Registrar of Voters, told KQED. “As long as we can see their intent, we can count the vote.”
Marin voters “should not initial or write their name next to the change, however, since ballots are to remain anonymous,” Roberts said.
Napa
John Tuteur, Napa County Registrar of Voters, said that if someone makes a mistake on their ballot, like marking “yes” when they meant to mark “no,” “they should circle the correct choice and draw an arrow to it.” The county’s vote-counting machines — technically known as “optical scanner ballot tabulators” — will automatically flag and forward any ballot that shows an “overvote” like this (i.e., when a race has more answers than is permitted) to staff who are trained to adjudicate these things, and work out what that voter intended with their correction.
This process is all documented, Tuteur said, so elections staff always know which adjudicator reviewed which ballot and what they decided.
Solano
“[L]ike lots of things, it kind of depends on the case and how close to election day it is,” Solano County Assistant Registrar of Voters John Gardner told KQED. But as a general rule, he encourages Solano voters to “call our office and talk to staff so we can go through the options” or email them.
Your options, which an elections staffer can go over with you, include writing notes on your ballot to make your intention clear (“i.e., add arrows to the correct choice and write ‘I want this one’ next to it or something like that,” Gardner said, so the human reviewing your ballot can understand it), along with ways to receive a new ballot which include requesting a totally fresh one, using a sample ballot or printing a new ballot themselves from a secure site.
“[W]e do have a lot of options for voters, but it’s really best for them to get in touch with us to help them understand all the possibilities based on their situation and needs,” Gardner said.
Sonoma
“Voters should put an X over the incorrect choice and mark the correct one,” said Deva Proto, Clerk-Recorder-Assessor and Registrar of Voters of Sonoma County.
“Voters can also request a replacement ballot, if they feel more comfortable with that, or go to any in-person location to vote or get a replacement ballot,” she said.
And remember, there’s always this option …
What if I just want a new ballot?
If you’ve made a big mistake on your ballot — too big to fix — your best plan of action may be to focus on getting a new one. You can:
- Call your county elections office and ask them to cancel that ballot and issue a new one to you
- Go to your county elections office with your spoiled ballot during business hours and vote right there at the counter
- Take advantage of the early voting options available in many counties
- Go to a voting site on Election Day, Nov. 5, turn in your spoiled ballot there and get a new ballot
You can also do this if you’ve accidentally damaged your ballot in some way (coffee spills happen).
What if I have problems with my signature?
When you’re done filling out your ballot, you must sign the envelope. But a few big mistakes people can make with their signatures are:
- Forgetting to sign their ballot entirely
- Accidentally signing the wrong ballot in their household (i.e., mixing up your ballot with your partner’s or roommate’s ballot) or
- Making a signature that doesn’t match the signature they made when they registered to vote
Why wouldn’t your signature match the one on file? If you registered to vote at a young age, maybe your signature has changed over time. Or perhaps you registered to vote at the DMV and provided your signature on a screen with a stylus, which doesn’t quite replicate how you’d make your signature with a pen on paper.
If you registered this way, one simple way to avoid any signature problems is to take a quick glance at the signature that’s on your driver’s license or state ID — because that’s the one you want your ballot signature to match.
Even if you didn’t register at the DMV, that signature on your most recent license or state ID is still very likely the one to emulate. That’s because when you register to vote online, your county elections office electronically requests a copy of the signature the DMV currently has for you, and this information is regularly updated.
To further set your mind at rest, know that California isn’t an “exact match” state and doesn’t demand voters’ signatures 100% replicate the signature that’s on file.
What if I just don’t know my ‘correct’ signature I’m registered to vote with?
If you’re really worried about the signature on your envelope not matching the signature you’re registered to vote with, there are two good solutions.
One: If it’s on or before Oct. 21, you can re-register to vote with your current signature to be sure that the state now has your most recent one on file. If you are re-registering after Oct. 21, you’d need to complete the same-day voter registration process (also known as “conditional voting”) and request your ballot in person at your county elections office or polling location.
Two: In 2021, Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, told us there’s another solution if you’re worried about your signature: Go vote in person, if you’re able.
That’s because the signature only goes on your ballot’s envelope — and if you’re voting in person, there’s no envelope because that ballot then goes straight into the ballot box without needing that envelope at all.
“So if you want that satisfaction of seeing your ballot drop in the box and know that it’s not going to get held up because of some signature issue, you can go and vote in person,” Alexander said.
Thanks, KQED: I already mailed my ballot, but now I’m paranoid about my signature. What if I messed it up?
Rest assured: There’s a whole system in place to help you correct your mistake.
If your county’s election office detects a signature mismatch on your ballot, they’ll reach out to you via mail to verify and work with you to correct it so that your ballot can be counted after all. It’s called “curing” a ballot.
This system is also applied when it looks like a member of a voter’s family might have signed their ballot instead of the voter. This happens a surprising amount when one household has several voters who all receive a ballot in the mail.
One way to get peace of mind: Sign up to track your ballot, and you’ll find out about any issues with your ballot or your signature quickly.
I think I put the wrong date on my envelope
First off, that date should be the date you signed your envelope — not your date of birth. (We had many questions during the 2020 election about this.)
But if you’re worried you messed up the date, don’t worry. Elections officials said that the date they’re really looking for is the date that the ballot is postmarked to make sure it was submitted on time.
Election officials will only truly scrutinize the date you’ve written if they receive your ballot after Election Day.
“Like maybe you mailed it Monday before Election Day,” John Gardner, assistant registrar of voters for Solano County, told us in 2020. “That’s when we have to start looking at postmarks on the ballot, or date that the voter signed the envelope, to determine if we can count the ballot or not.”
And if you haven’t mailed your envelope yet, it’s an easy fix: Just clearly cross out the incorrect date on the envelope and write in the correct one above it.
What if I use assistive technology to complete forms?
Getting physical assistance with filling out your ballot from someone you trust is always fine, whether you’re voting at home or at a voting site. You just need to make sure your signature is your own and matches the one you’re registered to vote with.
Disabled voters can also choose to use the Remote Accessible Vote-by-Mail system to vote privately and independently at home, using their usual assistive device on their home computer to fill out the ballot on their screen and then print and mail it.
Every voting location in California is also equipped with an accessible voting unit. Here, voters with blindness or low vision or who have a disability that limits their dexterity will be able to use the assistive device of their choice that allows them to vote privately and independently.
How can I make sure my mail-in ballot gets there on time?
Remember, one big reason that ballots get disqualified in elections is that voters mail them too late: either too late on Election Day itself (after U.S. Postal Service mailboxes have already been collected) or after Election Day.
To be counted in this election, your ballot must be postmarked on Election Day, Nov. 5, at the latest. Your ballot has seven days — until Nov. 12. — to reach your county elections office.
So, in this election, it’s as crucial as ever to make sure you have a plan for voting on time — and if you’re not voting in person, that means making sure you get your ballot into a USPS mailbox or into a secure voting drop box, at a polling location or your county elections office, by the time polls close on Nov. 5.
If you’re choosing to mail your ballot via USPS, keep in mind that the Postal Service must postmark your ballot envelope by the end of Election Day for your vote to count — and the last collection at many mailboxes is 5 p.m. So, if it’s getting late in the day on Nov. 5, consider using a county drop box instead of a USPS mailbox.
Read more about how to return your ballot in the Bay Area.
A few other common ballot mistakes to watch out for …
Make sure you use a black or blue pen: It reads better, and it doesn’t slow workers down when they have to check to see what voter intent was. (Don’t use a felt-tip or a Sharpie that bleeds through the paper and marks other pages on your ballot.)
Don’t mail an empty envelope: It does happen. Keeping your envelope and your ballot together in your home might be a helpful way of avoiding this problem. And, of course, when you’re ready to mail your ballot, make sure it’s actually inside the envelope before you seal it.
Don’t bother with a stamp: Your ballot envelope is postage-paid. You don’t need it.
And again, make sure you’re filling out and signing the ballot and envelope with your name on it: It’s common to see roommates or partners accidentally mix up their ballots on the kitchen counter. So make sure you’re signing the document that bears your name.
