Wendy Sartory Link Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County Wendy Sartory Link Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County Wendy Sartory Link Supervisor of Elections Palm Beach County

VOTING FAQS

 

What voting equipment is used?

Does it matter how I insert my ballot in the scanner?

Do I have to vote in all the races?

What if I vote for too many candidates in a race?

What if I do not vote in ANY races?

What if I make a mistake on my ballot?

Can I change my ballot once it has been cast?

Can I write in a candidate?

If I receive a Vote-by-Mail ballot, can I change my mind and vote in person?

What happens if the power goes out or there are technical problems at a voting site?

What happens to my ballot after I've voted?

How do I know that my ballot will be counted?

What checks and balances ensure an accurate vote count?

 

 

VOTING FAQS ANSWERS

 

 

What voting equipment does Palm Beach County use?

 

We use DS200 precinct scanners, ExpressVote, and Electronic Voter Identification (EViD) units at all Early Voting and Election Day sites. High-speed, central count scanners are used to tabulate Vote-by-Mail ballots. All voting equipment produces a paper ballot.

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Does it matter how I insert my ballot in the scanner?

 

No. You can place either end into the scanner with either side up.

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Do I have to vote in all the races?

 

No. The DS200 precinct scanner will tally all properly marked races on the ballot. Voters are permitted to leave races intentionally blank if they choose. 

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What if I vote for too many candidates in a race (overvoted)?

 

If you're voting in person, the DS200 precinct ballot scanner will alert you that you have overvoted and allow you to request a new ballot or cast the ballot anyway. If you cast a ballot with an overvote, all races except the overvoted race will be counted.

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What if I do not vote in ANY races?

 

When voting in person, the DS200 precinct scanner will alert you that the ballot is blank. You can choose to cast the blank ballot or get assistance from a poll worker.

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What if I make a mistake on my ballot?

 

If a voter makes a mistake while marking their ballot, they are entitled to receive up to two additional ballots. However, a voter may only cast one ballot in any given election. 

Important: once a ballot has been inserted into the DS200 precinct scanner during Early Voting and on Election Day, the ballot has been cast and a replacement ballot will not be issued except by way of a provisional ballot. 

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Can I change my ballot once it has been cast?

 

No. Once your ballot has been scanned and accepted by the DS200 precinct scanner or your Vote-by-Mail ballot has been received by our office, your ballot cannot be retrieved or changed. You may only cast one ballot.

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Can I write in a candidate?

 

We can only count votes for qualified candidates (qualified candidates are those who have submitted qualifying paperwork before the election). In races with qualified write-in candidates, your ballot will include a blank space with an oval next to it. If you fill in the oval and write in the name of a qualified write-in candidate, that vote will be counted.

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If I receive a Vote-by-Mail ballot, can I change my mind and vote in person?

 

Yes. In that case, your Vote-by-Mail ballot will be canceled at the polling place.

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What happens if the power goes out or there are technical problems at a voting site?

 

We have backup equipment, generators, internal batteries, printed check-in registers and an auxiliary ballot box to keep everything going with minimal interruption. If a ballot scanner stops working, you can wait for a replacement scanner to cast your ballot, or put your ballot in the auxiliary ballot box and it will be scanned after the polls close.

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What happens to my ballot after I've voted?

 

Paper ballots are secured and available for recounts or audits. We store ballots with federal races or issues for 22 months and all other ballots for 12 months.

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How do I know that my ballot will be counted?

 

If you vote by mail, you can track your ballot on our website to see when your voted ballot has been received. When you vote in person, the screen on the DS200 precinct scanner indicates that your ballot has been accepted.

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What checks and balances ensure an accurate vote count?

 

To make sure every ballot is counted, we have systematic, redundant procedures in place to track how many ballots are issued, returned and counted. To make sure every ballot is counted accurately, our ballot scanners are tested repeatedly and publicly before every election. Afterwards, we run a post-election audit using a separate system to re-tabulate the ballots and confirm the accuracy of our results. Finally, to ensure accountability, election results and voter history become public record that anyone can check.

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