California Code of Regulations › Title 2 - Administration › Division 7 - Secretary of State › Chapter 8.3 - Petition Processing, Signature Verification, Ballot Processing, and Ballot Counting › Article 9 - Processing of Vote-By-Mail and Provisional Ballots › Section 20991 - Standards for Valid and Invalid Vote-By-Mail Ballots

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) A vote-by-mail ballot shall be subject to
				  the standards provided in the approved use procedures for the system on which
				  it is processed and the provisions of the Elections Code. In addition, the
				  following standards shall also apply.
(b) A voter's ballot shall be considered a
				  valid ballot, if the:
(1) Voter's signature on
				  the returned vote-by-mail identification envelope compares with the
				  signature(s) in the voter's registration record.
(2) Damaged, torn or otherwise
				  non-processable ballot can be duplicated to exactly reflect the voter's choices
				  and thereby enable the ballot to be processed on the system provided for that
				  purpose. Standards for duplicating ballots are set forth in Elections Code
				  section
				  15210 and
				  in the applicable voting system use procedures for the county. In addition, a
				  ballot received from a voter who uses a remote accessible vote-by-mail ballot
				  system shall have their ballot duplicated for processing.
(3) Voter prints their name on the signature
				  portion of the vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope, and it compares
				  with a printed signature(s) in the voter's registration record.
(4) Voter uses a variation of the
				  signature(s) appearing in the voter's registration record caused by the
				  substitution of initials for the first or middle name, or both, and the
				  signature compares with the affidavit of registration or the signature(s) in
				  the voter's registration record, as identified in Section
				  20960(g)(2).
(5) Voter does not sign the vote-by-mail
				  ballot identification envelope in the appropriate space, but the signature does
				  appear elsewhere on the identification envelope and compares with the
				  signature(s) in the voter's registration record.
(6) Voter uses a mark on both the
				  vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope and the affidavit of voter
				  registration, and the mark compares.
(7) Vote-by-mail ballot is postmarked or date
				  stamped on or before Election Day by a bona fide private mail delivery service
				  and received by the elections official in accordance with Elections Code
				  section
				  3020.
(8) Vote-by-mail ballot identification
				  envelope has no dated postmark, the postmark is illegible, and there is no date
				  stamp for receipt from a bona fide private mail delivery service, but the voter
				  has dated the vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope or the envelope
				  otherwise indicates that the ballot was executed on or before Election Day and
				  the ballot was received by the elections official in accordance with Elections
				  Code section
				  3020.
(9) Voter, instead of using their official
				  ballot, marks a sample ballot and mails it in the vote-by-mail ballot
				  identification envelope and the signature on the identification envelope
				  compares with the signature(s) in the voter's registration record.
(10) Two or more ballots are returned in one
				  vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope, and there are an equal number of
				  distinct signatures on the identification envelope that can be attributed to
				  eligible vote-by-mail voters and each of these signatures compares with the
				  signature(s) in the applicable voter's registration record.
(11) The voter returns their vote-by-mail
				  ballot identification envelope of a different voter, but the elections official
				  is able to identify the correct voter and the voter's signature compares with
				  the signature(s) in the voter's registration record.
(12) A military or overseas voter who is
				  temporarily living outside of the territorial limits of the United States or
				  the District of Columbia and transmits a voted ballot by facsimile pursuant to
				  Elections Code section
				  3106.
(13) Information provided by the California
				  Department of Public Health or other sources that clearly and convincingly
				  states that the voter died after the date the vote-by-mail ballot was cast
				  Absent convincing evidence otherwise, it shall be presumed that a ballot was
				  validly cast before the voter died.