Get the Facts About Voting

Under California law, a voter’s identity is verified when they register to vote, so voters do not need to show photo identification at polling places.

When people register to vote, they must provide their driver's license number, California identification number or the last four digits of their social security number and sign, under penalty of perjury, that they are eligible to vote. When processing voter registration forms, the State of California checks voters’ identification through the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or Social Security Administration (SSA). Following state law, first-time voters will be asked to show photo identification if their identity wasn’t validated through the DMV or SSA.

No. Voting by mail is safe, secure, and preferred by most voters. To make it easy for all registered voters to participate, every registered voter in California is mailed a ballot or can choose to vote in person. Vote by mail increases voter turnout and over 90% of Contra Costa County voters vote by mail.

Vote by mail is a highly regulated process and fraud is nearly impossible due to the number of checkpoints, people, and systems that work together to keep your vote safe:

• Ballots are only mailed to registered voters

• Ballot envelopes are picked up from the post office or drop boxes with strict chain-of-custody procedures

• Ballot envelopes are assigned unique ID numbers to ensure voters only vote once and so voters can track their ballots

• Ballot envelopes are signature verified, up to three separate times, to the voter's signature on file

• If a signature is missing or not a match, a letter is sent to the voter to “cure” the signature issue

• Ballots are not counted until the voter’s signature is verified

• A voter’s activity is logged in the voting history system when they submit their vote by mail ballot or vote in person and only the first ballot received by election officials is counted

Click to learn more about Voting by Mail.

No. Multiple procedures detect fraudulent activity related to voting more than once:

• A voter’s activity is logged in the voting history system when they submit their vote by mail ballot or vote in person

• Election officials count only the first ballot they receive from a voter

• When processing provisional and conditional voter registration ballots, elections officials check that the voter hasn’t already voted

• VoteCal, the statewide voter registration database, allows officials to ensure voters haven’t voted elsewhere in the state

• Cases where a voter may have tried to vote more than once are reported to the District Attorney and the Secretary of State Fraud Division for investigation and possible prosecution

No. Drop boxes are under heavy safeguards to protect ballots. The typical drop box is made of heavy high-grade metal, which is bolted to the ground and is equipped with additional security features such as tamper-evident seals, minimal ballot insertion size, locks, and water/fireproof materials, and placed in a public location. State and federal law prohibits tampering with the election process.

No. When voting at polling places, voters are given the choice of using an official ballot marking device, a black ballpoint pen supplied by poll workers, or their own blue or black pen. If the voting tabulation system is unable to determine the voter’s selections, the ballot image is sent to adjudication to be manually reviewed by elections officials to determine the voter’s intent.

No. Voting at polling places is a highly regulated process and fraud is nearly impossible due to the number of checkpoints, people, and systems that work together to keep your vote safe:

• Poll workers undergo intensive training and polling places are supervised by an inspector and a clerk

• Strict chain-of-custody and security protocols are in place when setting up, running, and closing up polling places and delivering ballots to the Elections Office at the end of the day

• At least two people must be with ballots and voting equipment at all times

• Voters check in at the polling place to verify that they’re registered to vote and to ensure they only vote once

• Voters put their completed ballots into secure boxes at polling places

No. The holes in the envelope were designed to help voters who are visually impaired know where to sign their ballot envelopes and to help election officials ensure each ballot has been extracted from the envelope without inspecting the ballot. It is against state and federal law for election officials to tamper with the election process, such as “tossing out” ballots.

Ballot return envelopes must be signed by the registered voter and verified by election officials before the ballot can be counted. Voters are required to sign their ballot return envelope, or when they check in at a polling place, so election officials can confirm their identity and that they are registered to vote. Election officials check every ballot return envelope to compare the signature to the voter’s signature on file before the ballot can be counted. If the signatures do not match, or if the signature is missing, election officials contact the voter to “cure” their vote by mail challenge status. Once the voter’s signature is verified the ballot can be counted.