NPR (AUDIO): In many states, there's a process to fix an error with your ballot
Voters make mistakes. Oftentimes ballots don't get returned by the deadline required by the state. But Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections at Common Cause, says many voters also get tripped by requirements on a mail ballot.
Depending on where you live, your state might require you to provide a signature that matches one on file, voter ID information such as a driver's license, or a date.
She says all these "little checks" are opportunities for human error.
Plus, Albert says, voting at home means you are on your own, for the most part.
"You don't have an election worker there who can answer any questions you have or direct you to anyone else who can help," she says. "You are just alone on your kitchen table."
Sometimes, Albert says, voters completely miss the field to provide their ID information or their signature. Other times, election officials have a hard time checking ID numbers or signatures against what's in their system. ...
Common Cause's Albert says it also depends what your state allows local officials to do when they are trying to contact voters.
"Some of that is set in state law," Albert says, "and some legislatures are not really interested in providing more leeway to election officials to reach out to those voters."