'I haven't received my absentee ballot'

"I haven't received my absentee ballot," writes Kathryn of San Jose. "Can my daughter pick one up for me?"

No. If your ballot has been mailed and you did not receive it, Smart Voter Liaison Laura Grybos recommends calling the Registrar of Voters at (408) 299-8640 for more options.

Vote-by-mail ballot tracking

Vote-by-mail voters in Santa Clara County can track their absentee ballot online. "Voters can now confirm when their absentee ballot was mailed... and when it was received by the Registrar of Voters' office," according to the website.

"Vote-by-mail ballots must be requested in writing at least seven days before an election," says Grybos. Requests must be received by 5 p.m. (postmarks not accepted) on Oct. 28. After that, ballots can only be obtained in person at the polls on Election Day.

Provisional Voting

James of San Jose recently moved in June, and says he also didn't receive his ballot. "How do I correct this and vote?" he asks.

"If you were registered at your old address, your ballot has been mailed to your old address," says Grybos. "You may be able to fill out a provisional ballot."

A voter is asked to vote a provisional ballot at the polls due to one of the following reasons:

1. The voter’s name is not on the official roster of voters and the election officer cannot verify the voter’s voting eligibility on Election Day. The Elections Official’s Office will check the registration records. If further research determines that the voter is eligible to vote in the election, the provisional ballot will be counted.
   
   
2. A voter has moved within the county, but did not re-register to vote. The Elections Official will verify the voter’s prior registration before the provisional ballot will be counted. The voter’s registration will then be updated with the voter’s current address.
   
   
3. Records indicate that the voter requested a vote-by-mail ballot and the voter fails to turn in the vote-by-mail ballot at the polls on Election Day. The Elections Official’s Office will check the records, and if the voter did not vote a vote-by-mail ballot, the voter’s provisional ballot will be counted.
   
   
4. The voter is a first-time Federal Election voter in the county and was unable to provide the required proof of identification. The Elections Official’s Office will verify the voter’s eligibility to vote by comparing the signature on the voter’s registration with the signature on the provisional ballot envelope.