Following the ballot: You voted, now what?

Once ballots are turned in, there is a thorough process they go through to be counted.

El Paso County Clerk & Recorder Wayne Williams said bipartisan judges collect ballots from the drop-off boxes daily. As Election Day gets closer, they will collect ballots more often. He said having a bipartisan team is important.

“You never send two Democrats or two Republicans to pick up the ballot, it’s always a mixed team so that way people can be confident in the process.”

Once the ballots are collected, the process begins. Bipartisan judges verify the signature on the envelope. If the signature doesn’t match what’s on file or there’s a problem, they send the voter a letter in the mail that day notifying him or her of the issue. The voter can cast a new ballot, and it must be received up to eight days after the election.

Williams said about 100 voters have received a letter because of signature issues, but most ballots do have a valid signature and move on to the next stage.

“The envelope is then opened, the secrecy sleeve is pulled out of the envelope, the ballot is then pulled out of the secrecy sleeve, by a separate judge, so they don’t know who that person’s ballot is,” Williams said.

The ballots then move on to a different room. Bipartisan judges review problems with the ballot. For instance, if there is a spill on a ballot, the scanner won’t be able to read it. So the judges fill out a new, clean ballot, mirroring the voter’s choices. A separate set of judges compares the ballots to make sure they match.

Finally, the valid ballots are scanned.

Voters can go to www.epcvotes.com verify whether their ballot has been received. Those who are eligible but not registered to vote may still do so.