Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 19092 - Vote-By-Mail Ballot Reason Codes

(a) For all VBM ballots where the ballot return status is "Not Accepted," an appropriate reason code shall be assigned by the county elections official.

(b) If a VBM ballot has not had a final adjudication, the county elections official shall assign the ballot return status of "Not Accepted" and either a temporary rejection reason code of "In review." or one of the applicable rejection reason codes set forth in subdivision (c) below. Upon the final adjudication of the ballot, "In review" shall be replaced with either a ballot return status of "Accepted" or with a rejection reason code for "Not Accepted" as provided in subdivision (c) below.

(c) If a county elections official does not accept a VBM ballot, then a ballot return status of "Not Accepted" shall be assigned along with one of the rejection reason codes listed below:

(1) "Voter already voted." This reason code shall be used when rejecting a VBM ballot that was submitted by a voter when the voter already has an accepted or counted ballot in California for that election, when the voter has previously:

(A) Voted at a location as provided in Elections Code section 338.5;

(B) Returned a VBM ballot in California that was accepted by a county elections official;

(C) Returned a provisional ballot that has been processed and counted in the same or another county; or

(D) Returned a CVR provisional ballot that has been processed and counted in the same or another county.

(2) "No voter signature." This reason code shall be used when the voter did not provide a signature on the VBM ballot envelope.

(3) "Non-matching signature." This reason code shall be used when the voter provided a signature on the VBM ballot envelope that did not compare to the signature on file with the county.

(4) "Ballot missing from envelope." This reason code shall be used when the VBM ballot envelope did not contain a ballot for the current election.

(5) "Voter deceased." This reason code shall be used when it is determined that the voter was deceased prior to the signature on the envelope or when the ballot has been returned unvoted with a notation that the voter is deceased.

(6) "Multiple ballots returned in one envelope." This reason code shall be used when more than one VBM ballot is returned in an envelope and an equal amount of distinct signatures are not on the envelope that can be attributed to eligible voters; this scenario is described in paragraph (10) of subsection (c) of Section 20991, of Article 9 of chapter 8.3 of Division 7 of Title 2 of California Code of Regulations.

(7) "Ballot was not received in time." This reason code shall be used when a VBM ballot was postmarked after Election Day or was postmarked on or before Election Day and was received by the county elections office more than the prescribed days set forth in Section 3020 of the Elections Code after the election or was delivered to the polls or vote center after the close of the polls on Election Day.

(8) "VBM ballot was undeliverable." This reason code shall be used when the voter has not cast their VBM ballot and the VBM ballot is returned by the United States Postal Service and marked undeliverable.

(9) "No ID provided." This reason code shall be used in a federal election when a first-time registrant, who is also a first-time voter, did not provide a California driver license or state identification number or the last four (4) digits of their social security number when they registered to vote, pursuant to Section 19075 of this article, and they did not provide the information required by Section 20107 of article 7 of chapter 1 of Division 7 of Title 2 of California Code of Regulations, prior to the final adjudication of the ballot.

(10) "VBM ballot voided." This reason code is used when a voter has not cast their VBM ballot and the VBM ballot was voided, spoiled, or the VBM ballot was surrendered or suspended and re-issued.

(11) "Please contact your county for further information." This reason code shall be used when the county rejection reason is not "In review" or as provided in (c) (1-10) above.

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 19092

1. New section filed 8-27-2020; operative 8-27-2020 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3). Filing deadline specified in Government Code section 11349.3(a) extended 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-66-20 (Register 2020, No. 35).
2. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) filed 10-5-2020 as an emergency; operative 10-5-2020. Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-66-20) (Register 2020, No. 41). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 8-3-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) refiled 8-5-2021 as an emergency; operative 8-5-2021 (Register 2021, No. 32). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-3-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) refiled 11-15-2021 as an emergency; operative 11-15-2021 (Register 2021, No. 47). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-14-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Certificate of Compliance as to 11-15-2021 order, including amendment of subsections (b) and (c)(4), repealer of former subsection (c)(6), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsections (c)(6)-(8) and (c)(10)-(11), transmitted to OAL 12-14-2021 and filed 1-26-2022; amendments operative 1-26-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 4).

Note: Authority cited: Section 12172.5, Government Code; and Sections 10 and 2168, Elections Code. Reference: Sections 3000, 3001, 3002, 3003, 3004, 3005, 3006, 3007, 3007.5, 3007.7, 3007.8, 3008, 3009, 3010, 3011, 3012, 3013, 3014, 3015, 3016, 3016.5, 3017, 3018, 3019, 3019.5, 3019.7, 3020, 3021, 3021.5, 3022, 3023, 3024, 3025 and 3026, Elections Code; and 52 U.S.C. Section 21083.

1. New section filed 8-27-2020; operative 8/27/2020 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3). Filing deadline specified in Government Code section 11349.3(a) extended 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-66-20 (Register 2020, No. 35).
2. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) filed 10-5-2020 as an emergency; operative 10/5/2020. Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-66-20) (Register 2020, No. 41). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 8-3-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) refiled 8-5-2021 as an emergency; operative 8/5/2021 (Register 2021, No. 32). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-3-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Amendment of subsections (b)-(c)(1), (c)(5) and (c)(9), new subsections (c)(10)-(11), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(12) refiled 11-15-2021 as an emergency; operative 11/15/2021 (Register 2021, No. 47). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-14-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Certificate of Compliance as to 11-15-2021 order, including amendment of subsections (b) and (c)(4), repealer of former subsection (c)(6), subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsections (c)(6)-(8) and (c)(10)-(11), transmitted to OAL 12-14-2021 and filed 1-26-2022; amendments operative 1/26/2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 4).