Important Notes

Before we begin, some very important notes about provisional ballots. Think of these as the 3 cardinal rules of provisional ballots:

1. The Electoral Board, and only the Electoral Board, decides whether to count provisional ballots. You should never tell anyone their ballot will or will not be counted. That is the Electoral Board’s decision! If a voter wants more information, you can tell them to call our office.

2. You should NOT check in provisional voters on your Poll Pad. In Virginia, provisional voters are never marked on the pollbook because we do not know yet if their ballot will be counted.

3. Do NOT let voters cast provisional ballots on the DS200 scanner. It’s very important to help provisional voters at the Chief’s Table, far away from the DS200 scanner. Once you issue a ballot to a provisional voter, stay with them until they return it to you.