CA Secretary of State explains ballot tracking tool

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You may have received the email on Tuesday morning from the California Secretary of State regarding the "Where’s My Ballot" tracking tool. It’s an online notification system that allows you to make sure your ballot gets counted.

This morning, the Secretary of State’s office sent an email to voters announcing the launch of our "Where’s My Ballot?" tool statewide. Attached are sample images of the emails that were distributed. pic.twitter.com/3xDFptIgiU

— CA SOS Vote (@CASOSVote) August 25, 2020

Vote by mail has been a controversial topic this year amid concerns over the financially-strained Post Office.

"I don’t like this mail in ballot deal," President Trump said on Saturday.

Some voters are wondering: Will my vote actually count? Or will it get lost in the process?

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said California has a plan.

"With more people voting by mail this time than I think at any point in time in our nations history, we though it would be a great tool to give voters the confidence they deserve to have in the vote by mail process," Padilla said.

With the tracking tool, he said voters can track when their ballot is mailed, received and counted.

Here’s how it works: Type in your information, choose where you want your updates to go (text, email, or voice) and choose your notification hours.

There have been some glitches along the way. After the office sent out an email about the tool Tuesday morning, a number of people reported the link was broken.

We are aware some voters have had intermittent issues accessing our "Where’s My Ballot?" site this morning due to heavy traffic after our statewide email. We are working with @BallotTrax to increase site capacity and will provide updates as we have them. https://t.co/agWcG0dBPt

— CA SOS Vote (@CASOSVote) August 25, 2020

In response, the office said it was "aware that some voters are having intermittent issues reaching the site, likely due to heavy traffic." The office is now working with its vendor "to increase site capacity."

"We have since increased capacity to handle a much bigger volume so if you tried to sign up for Wheres My Ballot earlier today and weren’t successful, you can go ahead and try again and sign up to receive those very important messages," Padilla said.

He said if voters don’t feel comfortable dropping off ballots by mail, they always have the option to utilize the drop off points and voting locations. He also urged voters to remember to sign the back of the ballot or it will not be counted.

To use the tracking tool, visit: wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov