Getting a little anxious trusting the postal system to handle your mail-in ballot? Worry a little less this election season 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 it shot to 43 million in 2020, according to MIT’s Election Lab, up from around 23 million in the 2018 midterms, and decreased only to around 32 million in 2022.
While mail-in voting is, overall, a safe and reliable method of voting, it is 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 ballots. 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, find out if you can still register to vote in your state and see if early voting has started there as as well.
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 a drop box or the US Postal Service to track your ballot in the mail. When attempting to use these tracking options, be aware that you may need to enter certain personal information to do so, including your first and last name, 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 small number of states — Missouri and Wyoming — you’ll be required to call your local county clerk’s office to track your mail-in ballot.
Find below a complete listing of links to the information you will need to track your mailed ballot in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
Is it too late to vote by mail in my state?
As for whether you’re still able to request a mail ballot this close to the 2024 general election, that is also going to vary considerably depending on the state you live in. Some states will let you make a request as late as a few days before Election Day, while some set the cutoff weeks ahead, and others will have a set date but strongly recommend that you make your request sooner to ensure that the process has the time to play out.
For a full list of the deadlines by state and the options each one offers, you can consult Vote.org‘s Ballot Tracker Tools
page. It would also be a good idea to reach out directly to your local elections office to confirm how much time you have left to make a request and what methods would be preferable.
For more, find out how you can see what’s on your ballot right now.
