Helping America Vote: A Guide to Implementing the New Federal Provisional Ballot Requirement

Publication Date: August 2003

Publisher: League of Women Voters (U.S.)

Author(s): Tracy Warren

Research Area: Politics

Keywords: Provisional ballot; Voting

Type: Report

Abstract:

Investigations after the 2000 elections revealed that between 1.5 million voters and 3 million voters were not able to cast a ballot in the 2000 presidential election because of registration problems. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), under which voters whose eligibility is in doubt on Election Day -- voters whose names are not on the registration rolls or whose eligibility has been questioned -- will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot that will be counted once election officials determine the voter is eligible.

The concept and language of HAVA's provisional ballot requirement establishes a new and fundamental principle that no voter coming to the polls on Election Day will be turned away without being given an opportunity to cast a ballot.