It's election day. Are you getting nervous your mail-in ballot has been accepted? Worry a little less, and use some online tools to track your ballot's progress.
Mail-in ballots are an increasingly common method of voting in the US, with the COVID-19 pandemic driving a major surge of mailed ballots as people looked for safer methods of voting in the 2020 presidential election. Voting by mail had been steadily increasing for years, but according to the Election Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it shot up from around 23 million in the 2018 midterms to 43 million in 2020, decreasing to about 32 million in 2022.
While mail-in voting is, overall, a safe and reliable method of voting, it's still subject to the whims and worries that bedevil the entire postal system, and if you've ever had a package get lost in transit, you can just imagine how frustrating such a situation would be with something as vital as a ballot. Don't worry too much, though, because just as with those packages, options exist to track your ballot's progress, whether you use the mail system or an official ballot drop box. Read on for a full breakdown of where you need to go to see tracking in your state.
For more on the 2024 election cycle, here's how to track results in the swing states and whether people can see how you voted?
How can I track my ballot?
Ballot-tracking options come on a state-by-state basis, though states tend to rely on a service called BallotTrax to track your status, whether you dropped your ballot in the mail or in a drop box, or the US Postal Service to track your ballot in the mail. Be aware that you may need to enter certain personal information to use these tracking options, including your first and last name, your birthday, and possibly your Social Security number.
In some states, you'll also need to retain a tracking number found on the perforated slip that you were required to remove from your ballot before mailing it. In a few states you'll need to contact your local election office to track your mail-in ballot.
Here's the information needed to track your mailed ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois (contact your local election office, or click the link for Chicago or for DuPage, Kane, Lake or Will County)
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri (contact your local election office)
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming (contact your local election office)
For more, find out how you can see what's on your ballot right now.