This week the California Secretary of State’s Office (SOS)
released a new way for voters to track and receive notifications
on the status of their vote-by-mail ballot. The Where’s My Ballot?
tool allows residents of every county to sign up for automatic
email, SMS (text), or voice call notifications about their ballot.
Where’s My Ballot is particularly relevant this year, after
changes were made to the General Election to allow all
registered voters in California to vote-by-mail in response to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tracker is also released among a national conversation about
the security of mailed ballots and could be a useful tool to
assuage fears about ballots going missing. The service is being
run by BallotTrax, a Denver-based company which has tracked
ballots in more than 300 elections in the United States.
Ballot tracking is just one component of the Secretary of State’s
efforts to ensure a smooth election, despite complications from
the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, in recognition of the
fact that a large share of poll workers are often in the age
group most at risk of complications if they contract COVID-19,
the SOS launched a statewide poll worker recruitment effort. The
SOS website contains a consolidated page where all Californians
can sign up to be a
poll worker.
