(KTXL) — With ballots mailed out to every registered voter for the California primary election, voters can fill out, sign and return their ballot by mail and track the ballot’s progress online.
The California Secretary of State is offering a service called “Where’s My Ballot?”, which is a new way for voters to get notified when their ballot is mailed, received, and counted.
The service, which is available in every county, allows voters to receive notifications through email, text, or voice calls.
You can sign up for the service here.
Registered voters can sign in with their first and last name, date of birth and zip code. Once you’re logged in, there are four steps the ballot takes on its path to getting counted.
Ballot outbound: ballot is on its way to your address
This is the first step that notifies voters if their ballots have been mailed to their home address. For voters who haven’t received their ballots yet, the “Ballot outbound” step on your account lets you know that it’s on its way from the post office.
The website will tell you to look for your ballot in your mailbox soon.
Ballot inbound: the Postal Service is sending the ballot to the county
Once you have filled out your ballot and dropped it into the mailbox, this step lets you know that the Postal Service has picked it up and is taking it to your county’s election office. According to the website, the Postal Service will notify the state that they received your ballot and that it’s taking it to the election office in your county.
Ballot received: the county has received your ballot
This third step of the journey lets the voter know that their county’s election office has received their ballot. Ballots that are mailed in are held and sorted, but are not officially counted until Election Day.
Ballot accepted: your ballot has been counted
This is the final step of the process where the voter receives notification that the election office confirms that it has received and counted the vote.
