Process a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB)

This topic explains how to process a Federal Write In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) received from a voter. After processing in Voter Focus, the votes cast on an FWAB ballot are then transferred to a county vote-by-mail ballot by the canvassing board.

To process an FWAB ballot:

Go to VOTER REGISTRATION > Voter Maintenance and access the voter's record.
On the Maint tab, verify that the voter's status is Active (there are several Active statuses) or Inactive. Make any other changes the voter might have provided on the ballot form.
Click the Vote-by-Mail tab. If the voter has an existing request for a mail ballot in this election, skip to step 5.

If the voter does not have a mail-ballot request for the election:

Click New Request.
On the Vote-by-Mail Request dialog, highlight the election and verify that the Request check box is selected.
In the How Requested field, select FWAB.
If you want to print a Vote-by-Mail Information Sheet, click Save and Print. The sheet prints to your Windows default printer. If you don't want the sheet, just click Save to save the request and return to the Vote-by-Mail tab. At this point, the Request Status is Ballot Requested.

Highlight the mail-ballot request and click Mail-Ballot Adjustments.
On the Mail-Ballot Adjustments dialog, click Release Ballot 2nd/3rd Ballot.
On the Release Ballot dialog, select FWAB Ballot Received from Voter. If your county uses ballot numbers, enter the number of the mail ballot that will be attached to the FWAB ballot.
To print a vote-by-mail label, a Replacement Vote-by-Mail Information Sheet, and a ballot (if your system is equipped with ballot printing), click Save and Print. The sheet prints to your Windows default printer and the label to the label printer defined in VOTE BY MAIL > Vote-by-Mail Options > Label Printers. If you don't want to print these items, just click OK.

At this point, the Request Status of the ballot on the voter's Vote-by-Mail tab is Delivered <today's date>.

Attach the FWAB ballot (and label/sheet) to the county vote-by-mail ballot.
Go to VOTE BY MAIL > Return Ballots.

Note If your county has a mail-ballot processing system such as Pitney-Bowes Relia-Vote, click Return Ballots from Relia-Vote rather than Return Ballots. If your county uses another vendor's mail-ballot processing system, click Return Ballots from Envelope Reader.

On the Returns Ballots dialog, in the Return Date field, enter the date the ballots were received in the elections office.
In the Return Batch field, enter a new batch ID or the ID of the batch you were previously working in. If your county does not use batch control or uses a third-party system other than Pitney Bowes for mail-ballot return processing, you will not see this field.
Click Continue.
On the Return Ballots dialog, compare the signature clip in the voter's record with the signature on the return envelope, and accept or refer the ballot as appropriate. See How to Record the Return of Mail Ballots for instructions on accepting/referring a ballot.
Set the ballot aside for the canvassing board.