Ballot Duplication

Elections

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Key Takeaways

Ballot duplication is a secure process used in most states to deal with damaged and defective ballots.
A duplicated ballot results in one vote – not two.
Multiple safeguards ensure that a duplicated ballot reflects the voter’s selections.
Ballot duplication is used in limited circumstances, to count votes accurately and efficiently.

Introduction

Paper ballots are often counted on vote tabulation machines, which scan each ballot to record the voter’s selections. If a ballot is defective or damaged, the machine may not be able to read it. In many states, election officials will copy a voter’s selections from a defective or damaged ballot onto a new ballot that can be scanned. That process is called ballot duplication, or ballot replication. Ballot duplication is used to preserve a voter’s intent while maintaining the efficiency of using vote tabulation machines.

Ballot duplication is used in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam, for a total of 44 jurisdictions.
All 44 jurisdictions duplicate damaged ballots.
31 states and Guam duplicate both damaged and defective ballots (see below for definitions).

In the eight states that do not use ballot duplication, unscannable ballots are often hand counted.

Damaged Ballots

The main advantage of vote tabulation machines is their ability to count ballots accurately and quickly. For machines to be able to scan ballots reliably, each ballot needs to be the same shape, size and weight. Therefore, damaged ballots can stop or delay counting. Worse, a machine could become jammed and cause more damage to the ballot—potentially obscuring the voter’s intent.

To prevent this, officials may duplicate a ballot with even minor damage like wrinkles, tears, or coffee stains. Duplication procedures are outlined below.

Defective Ballots

A ballot is considered defective if it is rejected by a tabulation machine. If a machine rejects a ballot, the machine will not count the ballot, and the ballot will be returned to election officials.

Defective ballots can be caused in multiple ways:

Stray marks, which a machine may detect as selections.
Improperly marked choices, like circling a candidate’s name rather than filling in a circle.
An improper writing tool—this is why many ballots include instructions for the voter to use a black pen or other specific writing tool.
Printing errors in the creation of the ballot.

In-Person and Absentee/Mail Ballots

In many states, in-person ballots are scanned at the polling place and any defective or damaged ballots can be “cured” (redone) by the voter immediately. However, some ballots are scanned at a central location. If one of those ballots has a defect or damage, it may only be discovered during the counting process, when it is too late for it to be corrected by the voter. Therefore, ballot duplication is used to correct any defect or damage to centrally-counted ballots.

Absentee/mail ballots, whether dropped off or mailed in, also can’t be cured by the voter immediately. Further, ballots that travel through the mail can be damaged during the trip. Therefore, absentee/mail ballots are more likely to need duplication than in-person ballots.

Special Format Ballots and UOCAVA Ballots

Not all voters are able to use a standard ballot to vote. To accommodate those voters, special format ballots are created. For example, blind voters can be given a ballot printed in braille and visually impaired voters can be given large print ballots. Since vote tabulation machines depend on uniformity, these special format ballots generally cannot be scanned. Ballot duplication is used to transfer those votes to standard, scannable ballots.

In addition, voters designated by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) have special provisions that enable them to vote from outside the United States. These votes are returned by mail, electronically or by fax, but generally cannot be scanned in those forms. States use ballot duplication to copy each UOCAVA vote onto a standard paper ballot that can be scanned by a tabulation machine. This simplifies the process of counting UOCAVA votes and creates a physical record of electronic ballots. Read more about UOCAVA voters and duplication of their ballots from the Council of State Governments.

Unclear Selections

During ballot duplication, election officials will faithfully recreate the voter’s selections, except where the voter’s intent is unclear. Most often, if the voter’s intent for a given race is unclear, officials will leave that race blank. However, some states choose to “spoil” (or not count) ballots with any unclear choices rather than duplicate them. Election officials will never guess a voter’s intent or make their own selection on a duplicated ballot.

To ensure that each ballot is duplicated faithfully, election officials and witnesses work together to identify and verify the voter’s intent in each race. Additionally, the original ballot and the duplicate ballot are both kept as a record of the voter’s intent.

Duplication Procedures

While each state’s ballot duplication process has unique elements, the majority follow the general procedure below:

A damaged ballot or defective ballot is identified and set aside for duplication.
An election official, part of an official duplication team or accompanied by witnesses, examines the ballot to identify the voter’s intent. The team or set of witnesses often includes members of opposing political parties.
The election official copies the voter’s choices from the original ballot onto a new ballot.
The new ballot is scanned by the vote tabulation machine.
The new ballot and old ballot are given labels with matching serial numbers, showing which is the duplicate and which is the original.
The two ballots are connected and set aside with any other duplicated ballots to be preserved as part of the election record.

For more details on how ballot duplication is performed, see the Elections Group’s Ballot Replication Guide.

State Laws and Regulations on Ballot Duplication
State	Law/Regulation	Citation	Description
Alabama			No ballot duplication – damaged or overmarked ballots are cured by voters or hand counted.
Alaska	Regulation	Alaska Admin. Code tit. 6, § 25.065	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated by board members.
Arizona	Law	Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-621(A)	Damaged or defective ballots will be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Arkansas	Law	Ark. Code Ann. § 7-5-615(d)	Damaged or defective ballots will be duplicated in the presence of election officials and poll watchers.
California	Law	Cal. Elec. Code § 3106	Absentee ballots returned by facsimile machine are duplicated.
California	Law	Cal. Elec. Code § 15210	Damaged or defective ballots are duplicated if necessary for machine counting
Colorado	Law	Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 1-13.5-811	In local elections, damaged or defective ballots that cannot be machine counted are duplicated in the presence of two election judges
Colorado	Law	Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 1-7-508	In state and federal elections, damaged or defective ballots that cannot be machine counted are duplicated in the presence of two witnesses.
Connecticut			No ballot duplication - hand counts are used to tally ballots that cannot be machine counted.
Delaware	Law	Del. Code Ann. tit. 15, § 5612A	Damaged mail ballots are duplicated by bipartisan teams.
District of Columbia	Regulation	D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, § 802.5	UOCAVA voters who submit ballots electronically or use a Federal Write-In absentee ballot will have their ballot duplicated.
District of Columbia	Regulation	D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, § 802.6	In an emergency, precincts can be authorized to use unofficial ballots, which are then duplicated onto official ballots.
District of Columbia	Regulation	D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, § 808	Absentee ballots that are not machine readable will be duplicated.
District of Columbia	Regulation	D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, § 806.6	Damaged ballots can be duplicated in the presence of authorized observers.
Florida	Law	Fla. Stat. Ann. § 101.5614(4)	Any damaged vote-by-mail ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Florida	Law	Fla. Stat. Ann. § 102.141	Any damaged in person ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Georgia	Law	Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-483(e)	Overvoted ballots can be corrected and duplicated according to the discretion of local officials.
Georgia	Law	Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-483(f)	Damaged ballots can be duplicated by a duplication panel at the order of a superintendent.
Hawaii	Regulation	Haw. Code R. § 3-177-759	Defective ballots will be duplicated by officials in the presence of opposing political or official observers.
Hawaii	Regulation	Haw. Code R. § 3-177-450	Defective and duplicate ballot defined, including damaged ballots in the definition of defective.
Idaho	Directive	Secretary of State Directive 2003-1, Page 4	Ballots that cannot be scanned are duplicated, with specific procedures left up to the discretion of the county clerks. (Directives_Guide.pdf (idaho.gov))
Idaho	Law	Idaho Code Ann. § 34-217	Ballot duplication is allowed – procedure may be defined by county clerks
Illinois	Law	10 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/24A-14	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Illinois	Law	10 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/24B-14	Damaged or defective optical scan ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Indiana	Law	Ind. Code Ann. § 3-11.5-6-10	Damaged ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Indiana	Law	Ind. Code Ann. § 3-11.5-6-11	Defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Indiana	Law	Ind. Code Ann. § 3-11.5-6-12	All duplicate ballots are labelled as duplicates and given a serial number connected to the original ballot.
Indiana	Law	Ind. Code Ann. § 3-11.5-6-13	Duplicate ballot counted instead of original ballots.
Iowa	Law	Iowa Code Ann. § 52.37(1)(a)	For absentee and provisional ballots, damaged or defective ballots may be duplicated by a designated board or hand counted.
Kansas			No ballot duplication—damaged and defective ballots are handled by hand counting.
Kentucky			No ballot duplication provision
Louisiana	Law	La. Stat. Ann. § 18:1313.1(H)(8)	Damaged or defective absentee ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Maine			No ballot duplication – ballots that cannot be counted by machine are hand counted.
Maryland	Regulation	Md. Code Regs. 33.08.04.05	Defective or damaged ballots can be duplicated by a designated team.
Maryland	Regulation	Md. Code Regs. 33.08.04.06	Ballots generated from barcodes are verified and printed by a designated team.
Maryland	Regulation	Md. Code Regs. 33.11.05.08	Defective or damaged absentee ballots can be duplicated if needed.
Massachusetts	Law	Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 54, § 33H	Ballot duplication is explicitly banned. Defective or damaged ballots are counted by hand.
Michigan	Law	Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 168.798a	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated. All election procedures can be observed by the public. All duplicated ballots must bear a label and serial number.
Minnesota	Law	Minn. Stat. Ann. § 206.86(5)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of two judges from opposing political parties.
Mississippi	Law	Miss. Code. Ann. § 23-15-523	Damaged or defective ballots are evaluated by a designated board, counted, and duplicated. Each duplicate is labelled and given a number matching it to the original ballot.
Missouri	Law	Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.477(3)	Damaged ballots can be hand counted or duplicated in the presence of two election judges from opposing major parties.
Montana	Law	Mont. Code Ann. § 13-15-206(4)(b)	Damaged ballots can be duplicated after review by a designated board.
Nebraska	Law	Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 32-1016	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated by a designated resolution board.
Nevada	Law	Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293B.375	Damaged ballots can be duplicated by a designated duplication board.
New Hampshire			No ballot duplication provision – damaged ballots are not counted for races where intent is unclear.
New Jersey	Law	N.J. Stat. Ann. § 19:53A-8(b)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated. Duplicate ballots are labelled as duplicates and given a serial number.
New Mexico	Regulation	N.M. Admin. Code 1.10.14.8(E)	Ranked choice ballots that are damaged can be duplicated. Defective or damaged ballots that do not use ranked choice voting are hand counted.
New York			No ballot duplication provision
North Carolina	Regulation	8 N.C. Admin. Code 9.0107	During the first recount of an election, damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated for machine tabulation or hand counted by a bipartisan team of four. No ballots are duplicated before the first recount.
North Dakota	Law	N.D. Cent. Code Ann. § 16.1-15-09(5)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated.
Ohio			No ballot duplication provision
Oklahoma	Law	Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 7-129.2(A)	Damaged absentee ballots can be duplicated by teams of two people. Called "substitute ballots."
Oklahoma	Law	Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 7-129.2(B)	Electronic or facsimile machine returned absentee ballots can be duplicated by teams of two people.
Oregon	Regulation	Or. Admin. R. 165-007-0030	Regulation requires a Vote by Mail manual, and that includes procedures for duplicating damaged and defective ballots.
Oregon		Vote by Mail Manual, 39-40	https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/documents/vbm_manual.pdf
Pennsylvania	Law	25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 3031.14(3)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated. Duplicate ballots are labelled as duplicates and given a serial number.
Rhode Island	Regulation	410 R.I. Code R. 20-00-16.5	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated by teams of two. If any selection cannot be determined, the entire ballot will be treated as blank.
Rhode Island	Regulation	410 R.I. Code R. 20-00-23.13	Same provisions as above, for vote-by-mail ballots.
South Carolina	Law	S.C. Code Ann. § 7-13-1410(f)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses. All duplicate ballots are labelled as duplicates and given a serial number.
South Dakota	Law	S.D. Codified Laws § 12-17B-14	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated by a designated board. All duplicate ballots are labelled as duplicates and given a serial number.
Tennessee	Regulation	Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-02-09-.04	Damaged and write-in ballots can be duplicated by a designated board, made up of members of opposing parties.
Texas	Law	Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 127.126	Partially invalid or damaged ballots can be duplicated.
Utah	Law	Utah Code Ann. § 20A-4-104(3)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated by two counting judges, at the direction of an election officer.
Vermont	Law	Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2493(a)(5)	Statute instructing the Secretary of State to establish ballot duplication process.
Vermont	Regulation	20-2 Vt. Code R. § 1(C)(f)	Ballots that cannot be machine read can be duplicated by two election officials of different parties.
Virginia	Regulation	1 Va. Admin. Code 20-100-60	Ranked choice ballots that are unreadable by machine can be duplicated by an election official. Virginia regulations are silent on the duplication of other ballots.
Washington	Law	Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 29A.60.120(1)	Damaged ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Washington	Law	Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 29A.60.125	Damaged or defective ballots are duplicated by teams of two authorized by the county board of canvassers.
West Virginia	Law	W. Va. Code Ann. § 3-4A-27(d)	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses from each political party.
Wisconsin	Law	Wis. Stat. Ann. § 5.85(2-4)	Damaged or overvoted ballots can be duplicated in the presence of witnesses.
Wyoming	Law	Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-11-104(b)(vi)	County clerk responsible for ensuring that damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated.
Guam	Law	3 Guam Code Ann. § 11112	Damaged or defective ballots can be duplicated in the presence of two commission members of opposing parties
Puerto Rico			No ballot duplication provision
Virgin Islands			No ballot duplication provision

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Brief Ballot Duplication

Key Takeaways

Introduction

Damaged Ballots

Defective Ballots

In-Person and Absentee/Mail Ballots

Special Format Ballots and UOCAVA Ballots

Unclear Selections

Duplication Procedures

Contact NCSL

Related Resources

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