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State by State Provisional Ballot Laws
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| Select a state from the menu below to learn more about its election administration. |
A provisional ballot is cast by a voter whose eligibility to vote cannot be proven at the polls on Election Day. If, after the election, administrators determine that the voter who cast the provisional ballot was eligible to vote, the ballot will be counted as a regular ballot. Federal law requires most states to provide for a provisional balloting process (states that had enacted same-day voter registration processes as of 1993 were exempted from this requirement). As of July 2024, every state except Idaho and Minnesota had established a provisional voting process. Although federal law mandates provisional voting processes, the states themselves define those processes. Consequently, provisional balloting can vary widely from state to state.[1]
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Provisional ballot laws by state
States differ in how they treat provisional ballots that are cast in the incorrect precinct. Some do not count the ballots; others conduct partial counts of such ballots (i.e., votes cast for federal races might be counted, whereas votes for state and/or local offices might not). See below for full details.
States that do not count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct
These states do not count provisional ballots that were cast by voters in the incorrect precinct.
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Carolina[2]
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
States that conduct partial counts of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct
These states conduct partial counts of provisional ballots that were cast by voters in the incorrect precinct (i.e., officials count votes only for those races for which the voter would have been eligible had he or she voted in the right precinct). Only Maine, which is not noted in the list below, conducts a full count of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct.
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Utah
- Washington
- West Virginia
States that do not provide for provisional balloting
As of March 2024, Idaho and Minnesota did not provide for provisional voting. New Hampshire provides for provisional balloting only when a voter does not provide the required documentation at the time of registration, and North Dakota provides for provisional balloting only in the event of a court order extending polling hours.
See also
- Early voting
- Absentee voting
- Online voter registration
- Same-day voter registration
- Voter identification laws by state
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Provisional Ballots," October 15, 2018
- ↑ North Carolina law provides that, "if a registrant has moved from an address in one precinct to an address in another precinct within the same county more than 30 days before an election and has failed to notify the county board of the change of address before the close of registration for the election, " the registrant/voter may vote a provisional ballot, which will be counted. See North Carolina G.S. 163-82.15(e) for full details.
