tart

uide

uick

S

Ballot Reconciliation:

Election Day

Helping America Vote

Q

G

About the Quick Start Guides: The EAC's Quick Start Guides are intended to familiarize local election officials with various topics

they will likely encounter in election administration. The guides are a starting point to identify areas of concern and give officials a

broad idea of factors they should consider in approaching a given topic.

What is ballot reconciliation?

Ballot reconciliation is the method in which election officials keep track of each ballot that has been

printed or issued to a voter. Tracking the number of ballots printed, used, and unused during an election

cycle ensures that election officials have accounted for every ballot created. When results are certified,

election officials can be confident that the results include every valid ballot cast. This guide's suggestions

focus mainly on reconciling Election Day ballots; however, the general principles also apply to early inperson and by mail voting.

Before Election Day

Before Election Day, election officials should:

Verify the number of blank ballots received from the printer.

Document the number of pre-printed ballots (and/or blank ballot stock) sent to each polling place.

Train poll workers on Election Day ballot reconciliation activities.

Create a checklist organized by polling place and include the serial number for each memory card

assigned to the location.

On Election Day

Before the Polls Open

Verify the number of ballots provided matches the number the elections office documented

and that they are the correct ballot styles for the location.

Confirm the ballot boxes are empty before polls open and that they remain secured

throughout Election Day.

If using precinct scanners or DREs, review the opening tape and confirm no votes are

present, and the number of ballots cast is zero.

After the Polls Close

Document the total number of ballots cast on each voting machine and close the polls on

each device.

Compare the total number of ballots cast to the total number of voters, accounting for any

provisional ballots to be reviewed.

Count and record the number of ballots (both voted and unvoted), including those that have

been cast, provisional, spoiled, or emergency.

If your jurisdiction allows voters to surrender or return mail ballots at polling places,

document each mail ballot that was received at the polling place.

Throughout Election

Day, encourage poll

workers to:

Compare the number

of voters checked in to

the number of ballots

cast.

Document any

instances of ballots

that are not properly

tabulated or any

equipment issues.

Election Night

Use the checklist of memory card serial numbers to ensure that all cards have been uploaded.

After uploading all memory cards for a polling place, verify the number of ballots cast matches

the number verified by poll workers (if possible, compare both numbers to the totals tapes

printed from the precinct scanners or DREs).

For jurisdictions that centrally scan Election Day ballots, verify the number of ballots scanned

matches the number of ballots poll workers reported as cast.

November 30, 2021 v. 1.0 EAC | Helping America Vote

eac.gov clearinghouse@eac.gov @EACgov @eacgov1 @us.eac