Get the Facts About Counting Votes

Yes. Any portion of a ballot that is not filled out is known as an undervote, occurring when a voter intentionally or unintentionally does not vote in a specific contest. The rest of the properly marked votes on the ballot will be counted.

Any ballot that cannot be read by the scanners is manually reviewed. Ballots that are marked in ways that the scanners cannot determine the vote on certain contests, such as stray marks, more ovals filled in than allowed, or write-in votes, are sent to adjudication where a team of two election officials examines the ballot and makes a joint decision on voter intent.

Ballots that are damaged, such as ripped, torn or stained, can’t be put through the scanners and are duplicated onto a readable ballot by a team of two election officials and then processed by the scanning system. The original ballot and the newly created duplicate are logged with a matching sequence number that ties them together for future reference.

ALL eligible provisional ballots are counted. California law requires that any voter who says they are registered, but whose qualifications cannot be confirmed through the official list of registered voters, is entitled to cast a provisional ballot. Elections officials carefully check every provisional ballot to ensure the voter is registered and did not cast a second ballot elsewhere.

Contra Costa County’s voting system is a paper-based, optical scan ballot system that is tested both before and after every election to verify votes are counted and recorded properly.

• Before every election, officials conduct a Logic and Accuracy Test of the voting system to ensure votes are tabulated accurately

• After election day, officials perform a 1% manual hand tally (audit) of the votes to confirm that the voting system accurately tabulated and reported votes cast for all races

• All paper ballots are stored for at least 22 months

Click to learn more about Voting Systems and Security, Voting Systems Testing and Duplication, and the Official Canvass.

Election officials do not tabulate any votes or share any results until after the polls close at 8 p.m. on election day. While election officials share preliminary results while counting ballots, outcomes are not final until the official canvass is complete and results are certified. Counties have up to 30 days after election day (28 days for presidential elections) to complete the official canvass (the process of verifying and counting ballots) and certify the results of an election.

During the canvass of votes, officials ensure every eligible ballot is counted, voters only voted once, proper procedures were followed, and the vote tabulation system is properly counting ballots. Final election results and Statement of Votes are submitted to the Secretary of State and/or the County Board of Supervisors.

Click to learn more about Canvass Procedures.

Counting votes includes more than just scanning ballots on election day and tallying results. Counties have up to 30 days after election day (28 days for Presidential elections) to complete the official canvass and certify the results of an election.

During the official canvass, election officials take many steps to ensure every eligible ballot is counted, including:

• Ballot processing: checking signatures, duplicating damaged ballots, and verifying provisional ballots and same-day registrations

• Vote by mail ballots properly postmarked by 8 p.m. on election day are accepted for seven calendar days

• Ballots received from other counties up to 15 days after election day

• Voters can submit cure letters for signature challenges until two days before election certification

• Roster reconciliation to ensure voters only voted once

• 1% manual tally and verification that the ballot count is accurate

Click to learn more about Why Does it Take so Long to Count the Votes?