Handle a Mail Ballot Election

In a mail ballot election, all voters eligible to vote in the election effectively vote by mail. Vote-By-Mail requests do not need to be processed for voters. Instead, the system automatically creates Vote-By-Mail requests for eligible voters when you run the Deliver Ballots program to generate envelopes, labels, or a commercial printer export file for the election.

In voter records and reports, ballots in a mail ballot election are treated like mail ballots in an election held at physical voting locations. There is no special designation to indicate that voting occurred in a mail election. The voting history reports, for example, will show that voters who voted in a mail ballot election voted by mail. In voter records, theVote-By-Mailtab will show the current status of the ballots (Requested, Delivered, or Voted).

The system option Mail Elections Include Inactive Voters determines whether Vote-By-Mail requests are created for voters whose registration status is Inactive. If your county uses this option, Inactive voters will be sent ballots, but their status will not change to Active unless they return the ballot. (For non-mail ballot elections, creating a Vote-By-Mail request for an Inactive voter automatically changes their status to Active.) Inactive voters who return ballots will be activated during the voting history update after the election.

Voter Vote-By-Mail statuses are not changed by a Vote-By-Mail request in a mail ballot election: If a voter does not normally Vote-By-Mail, their Vote-By-Mail status will remain blank rather than being changed to Temporary, as it would be if they had personally requested a Vote-By-Mail ballot.

FPCA and all-elections voters who have existing Vote-By-Mail requests for the election will be included in the Deliver Ballots run unless they requested email or fax delivery of their ballots. So when running a mail ballot election, remember to check the report Unsent Email/Fax Absentee Ballots for voters who need delivery of their ballot by one of these methods.

  1. Create the election as usual and define it as a mail ballot election selecting the option For Mail Ballot elections only on the Election Maintenance dialog.
  2. Determine if you want to include Inactive voters in the mailing and verify that the Mail Elections Include Inactive Voters option for this ability is properly set.
  3. Determine if you want to use default ballot addresses in the mailing and verify that the system option for this is properly set. See Mail Elections Do Not Use Def Abs Addresses for more information.
  4. Set up the ballot styles as usual.
  5. Print the mail ballot labels or envelopes:
    • Consider doing your overseas addresses prior to the main mailing to local voters.
    • Mail ballot labels are typically printed after the book closing date.
    • The mail ballot run will be much longer than for a normal Deliver Ballots run, because Voter Focus must create a Vote-By-Mail request and prepare a label for every eligible voter. After the main run, you can re-run the labels/envelopes as voters become eligible.
  6. Although a printed precinct register is not used, you must generate a precinct register to set up the system for the voting history update after the election and the compilation of voting statistics reports. Register generation should be done two or three days prior to the election date.
  7. As ballots come back to the elections office, you should return process them as mail ballots are normally processed. All Vote-By-Mail reports will be available.
  8. After the election: