What should I do with an extra ballot?

Our Voter Game Plan team has been busy answering your voter questions. Here's a question that comes up every election cycle:

What to do if you end up with a ballot that's not yours? We heard from Angelenos who received multiple ballots addressed to them. Others opened their mailboxes to find ballots for people who no longer live at their residence — former roommates, the previous tenants of their apartments, or relatives who have died.

What do you do with an extra ballot? Or a ballot that's not yours?

Here's the guidance for some Southern California counties.

Los Angeles County

"If residents receive ballots that are not addressed to them, they are urged to immediately contact our office at (800) 815-2666 or voterinfo@rrcc.lacounty.gov," a spokesperson told LAist in an email.

If you get an extra ballot with your name on it, discard it and contact the registrar. It is illegal to vote more than once.

"All vote-by-mail ballots are counted only once, and in addition, our office checks to see if a voter has cast a ballot from elsewhere," the spokesperson said. "Vote-by-mail ballots are also subject to signature verification as an additional safeguard against voter fraud or impersonation."

For ballots of people who are deceased, you may write, "deceased/return to sender" and drop them in a mailbox. There is a form online to notify the county that a person has died, but you can also contact the registrar by phone or email.

Ventura County

"Voters should return those ballots to the post office," marking it "Not at this address — Return to sender," a representative of the county told us.

Orange County

"Because ballots are not forwardable (and some carriers may not handle the return correctly), the best action to take is to discard the ballots," former Orange County Registrar Neil Kelley told LAist in an email. "However, we kindly request that they notify our office. They can do so here."

How are voter rolls kept current?

Election officials review and update their voter files using death records from the Department of Public Health and change-of-address forms from the DMV and unemployment offices. But this system misses people, and registrars need the public's help to get the most current information.

Here is an interesting explainer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offering an overview of how states maintain their voter lists.

You can find guides to specific races and other FAQs on our Voter Game Plan.

Former LAist reporter Libby Denkmann first wrote this piece back in 2020 and it has been updated every election cycle since then.

If you have a question about this election, LAist is here to help.