Sentinel staff report–
Under California Election law, voters can check online to see if their vote-by-mail ballot was counted — but three days after the election, some in Citrus Heights and Sacramento County say their ballots are still showing up as “not been received.”
On Friday, The Sentinel asked Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Courtney Bailey-Kanelos for an update on vote counting efforts and why voters may still be seeing that their ballot has not been received.
The registrar said ballots will still be listed as “not received” even after the ballot makes it to the registrar’s office, since that initial status will only change after the signature on the ballot has been verified.
As not all vote-by-mail ballots have been signature-checked and updated online yet, she said voters who dropped off or mailed their ballots on or near Election Day shouldn’t be concerned. However, if by Monday, Nov. 9, voters still see their ballot showing up as “not received,” the registrar recommended voters contact the Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections Office at (916) 875-6451.
As of Nov. 6, elections officials have counted a total of 454,252 ballots county-wide. However, there are still at least 260,000 more ballots that have arrived at the registrar’s office but not yet processed. California law also requires officials to count ballots that are received up to 17 days after an election, as long as the ballot was post-marked by Election Day.
There are also about 12,000 voters who cast a provisional ballot on Election Day, which are last to be counted. The registrar said her office hopes to finish counting all ballots before Thanksgiving.
Bailey-Kanelos said her office will attempt to reach out to voters whose signatures are significantly different from records on file or who have something otherwise wrong with their ballot. She said in close races, campaigns will also purchase lists of any challenged ballots from the county and will reach out to voters directly.
Although votes cannot be changed after Nov. 3, issues with signatures or damaged ballots can still be resolved after Election Day to ensure those ballots are counted.
To check on the status of a vote-by-mail ballot in Sacramento County, voters can follow these steps:
- Visit the Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections website.
- Select “Elections” from the top menu and click “My election information.” (or click here)
- Enter your house number, zip code and date of birth and click submit.
The current status of your ballot will then be shown, as well as your voter history for prior elections.
Voters can also register to track their ballot and receive notifications through Ballottrax, which partners with the State of California to provide ballot tracking with automatic notifications.
Got a question you’d like answered about vote counting in Sacramento County? Submit a question online: click here.
