Batches for Returned Mail Ballots

Voter Focus gives you the option of organizing the return of Vote-By-Mail ballots into batches, which can help you locate a specific ballot if the need ever arises.

Batch control is turned on and the maximum number of returns per batch is set in VOTER FOCUS ADMIN > System Options > Vote By Mail > Vote-By-Mail Returns_Batch_Control.

When batch control is turned on, the user begins a return processing session by specifying a batch ID, which can consist of numbers and/or letters. Voter Focus will then tell them that either they are creating a new batch or are opening an existing batch. In the case of an existing batch, the number of ballots already in the batch is displayed.

As the user processes returned ballots, each one processed as accepted is added to the batch unless the ballot was voted as an in-office absentee. In-office ballots are placed in the batch IOA rather than the batch ID in which the user is working. Ballots rejected due to voter error are assigned to the batch ID Err. Ballots in the Err batch go to the Canvassing Board. Any that are reinstated will continue to appear in the Err batch, but they will be marked as reinstated.

If a ballot's return status is changed during the management-review process, the ballot activity is recorded in the batch in which the ballot was initially returned. For reinstated ballots, this will be the Err batch.

If a maximum number of returns in a batch is specified, when a batch reaches the maximum number, Voter Focus advises the user to open a new batch if they want to continue processing returns. Most counties limit their batch sizes to 50 or 100 ballots, to make it easier to physically count ballots in the batches.

We recommend that a single user process the returns in a batch, that is, multiple users should not process returns into the same batch.

To see a list of the ballots returned by batch ID—including the IOA and Err batches—run the report Log of Returned Absentee Ballots by Batch.

Users with the permission ReturnBallotsVeryOldReturns can select batches where the batch date is more than 50 days earlier than today's date. This allows for correction of a return error so that a voter can be recorded as voting. Users without this permission are restricted to batches created less than 50 days ago.