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livingdebThere are several reasons you might want to vote in person after you've applied to vote by mail:
* You don't think the ballot will be received in time.
* The ballot got lost or destroyed. (You may have time to call the elections clerk and ask for a duplicate.)
* The president recommended doing so in order to "make sure it counted." (Instead you should check your state's ballot tracker from the safety of a socially distanced computer. Texas has a ballot tracker.) Oops, edited to add, "Ballot tracking is only available for certain military and overseas voters," per Voting Rights Lab's State Voting Rights Tracker, so not for people voting by mail because they are over 65 or because of a disability. That stinks.
Here's what will happen in Travis County, Texas, and I've read similar things in other states.
Checking in
When you arrive to vote and are checked in, there will be an alert flag on your name, showing that you've applied to vote by mail.
If you have your ballot
Bring your ballot and the cover envelope with you to the polling place to surrender them. They will check the envelope to make sure it's yours and they will check the ballot to make sure it is for the current election (of course your name will not be on the ballot because your vote is secret). You will fill out a "Request to Cancel Application for Ballot by Mail" and sign it. Your ballot, envelope, and form will be attached and collected.
If you don't have your ballot
You will still fill out a "Request to Cancel Application for Ballot by Mail" and sign it. If you fill it out at the Elections Division Office at 5501 Airport Blvd; they will process it and return it to you. You may then take this to a polling location to vote.
Or you may fill out the form at the polling location. They cannot process the form there, so you will have to vote provisionally. You will have to fill out an Affidavit of Provisional Voter form explaining why your vote should be counted.
If you've mailed your ballot but it was not (yet) received
Once your mail-in ballot is received, one of the following will happen:
* If it is received too late, it will not be counted.
* If it is received in time, it will be scanned, and there will be a flag that you've already voted. If you voted normally, the mailed ballot will not be counted. If you voted provisionally, I don't know for sure whether the mailed ballot or the provisional ballot is the one that will be counted, but I do know for sure that only one will be counted.
If your ballot has already been received
If your ballot has been received, then there will be an additional "already voted" alert. You will not be allowed to vote again. (If you feel this is wrong, you can contest this and perhaps fill out a provisional ballot.)
See also: More Things You May Not Know About Voting By Mail
* You don't think the ballot will be received in time.
* The ballot got lost or destroyed. (You may have time to call the elections clerk and ask for a duplicate.)
* The president recommended doing so in order to "make sure it counted." (Instead you should check your state's ballot tracker from the safety of a socially distanced computer. Texas has a ballot tracker.) Oops, edited to add, "Ballot tracking is only available for certain military and overseas voters," per Voting Rights Lab's State Voting Rights Tracker, so not for people voting by mail because they are over 65 or because of a disability. That stinks.
Here's what will happen in Travis County, Texas, and I've read similar things in other states.
Checking in
When you arrive to vote and are checked in, there will be an alert flag on your name, showing that you've applied to vote by mail.
If you have your ballot
Bring your ballot and the cover envelope with you to the polling place to surrender them. They will check the envelope to make sure it's yours and they will check the ballot to make sure it is for the current election (of course your name will not be on the ballot because your vote is secret). You will fill out a "Request to Cancel Application for Ballot by Mail" and sign it. Your ballot, envelope, and form will be attached and collected.
If you don't have your ballot
You will still fill out a "Request to Cancel Application for Ballot by Mail" and sign it. If you fill it out at the Elections Division Office at 5501 Airport Blvd; they will process it and return it to you. You may then take this to a polling location to vote.
Or you may fill out the form at the polling location. They cannot process the form there, so you will have to vote provisionally. You will have to fill out an Affidavit of Provisional Voter form explaining why your vote should be counted.
If you've mailed your ballot but it was not (yet) received
Once your mail-in ballot is received, one of the following will happen:
* If it is received too late, it will not be counted.
* If it is received in time, it will be scanned, and there will be a flag that you've already voted. If you voted normally, the mailed ballot will not be counted. If you voted provisionally, I don't know for sure whether the mailed ballot or the provisional ballot is the one that will be counted, but I do know for sure that only one will be counted.
If your ballot has already been received
If your ballot has been received, then there will be an additional "already voted" alert. You will not be allowed to vote again. (If you feel this is wrong, you can contest this and perhaps fill out a provisional ballot.)
See also: More Things You May Not Know About Voting By Mail