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Provisional Ballots
Click here for a printable version of this article
(PDF) “On Election Day, I went to my polling place and
was told that my name wasn’t on the register. [But] I voted
here in the primary. And they said,
‘Well you can sign a provisional ballot.’ Come to find
out later, I followed up - my vote was never counted.”
~ Bobby Jackson, Ohio resident
 Imagine you are a typical American voter, anxiously awaiting
your chance to influence the course of our nation by casting
your vote for President, Congress, and other local and state
offices. You’ve worked hard to support your candidates and
you’ve made arrangements to get to your polling place to
join your neighbors in this periodic renewal of our
government’s vitality and legitimacy. Only this time, when
you arrive at your regular polling place, you find that your
name is no longer on the rolls of eligible voters, despite
your having voted there for years. How would you feel and
what would you do? Well, all you could do – if you wanted a
chance to influence the course of our country’s future –
would be to cast a provisional ballot.
If a person shows up to vote and is not listed on a precinct
voting roll, the only way that person can vote is to cast a
provisional ballot. Nearly 2 million provisional ballots
were distributed in the 2004 election – and of that number,
nearly one-third were rejected and never counted.
In 2004 and 2006, many Americans found themselves
receiving provisional ballots, even though they were indeed
eligible to vote. This happened because of improper voter
registration purges, last-minute precinct changes and other
dirty tricks intended to influence the outcome of those
vitally important elections. As voter Bobby Jackson says in
UNCOUNTED, “Everyone who has the right to vote [should be]
able to determine the direction of this country. When you
take that away, we’re no better than any other country in
the world.”
Here is a report prepared by the U.S. Election Assistance
Commission (EAC) showing how large a role provisional ballots
played in the 2004 presidential election.
http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/html/EDS-chap%206%20prov%20ballots2.htm
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