③③⑥⑥23① Step 1 is inspection
of incoming ballot
envelopes. Envelopes
collected from the
U.S. Postal Service or
from drop boxes are
sorted by postmark
and inspected for the
required signature and
any signs of tampering.
② Workers then run
the ballot envelopes
through automated
scanners to validate
that the signature on the
envelope matches the
signature of the voter on
file with the county.
③ The third step is only
for ballot envelopes that
failed the automated
signature validation.
Multiple workers
review the signatures
on these envelopes;
they can check against
an expanded set of
signatures for each
voter. If the signature
still can’t be verified,
election officials will
contact the voter to get
a signature verification
statement.
④ Next is “ballot
extraction”—ballot
envelopes are sliced
open so workers can
take out the ballots.
⑤ Workers then
“remake” ballots
that have readability
problems or that voters
made a mistake on and
tried to correct—as
long as the intention
of the voter can be
understood—so the
ballots can be read by
tabulation machines.
The original ballot is
attached to the remade
ballot for auditing
purposes. Remaking
is performed by a
two-person team; the
partner of the worker
pictured here is off
camera because of
social distancing.
⑥ Finally, ballots are
placed in tally boxes
equipped with tamper-
evident seals. The
boxes are taken to the
county’s tally operations
center, where votes will
be counted.◼ ELECTION Bloomberg Businessweek November 9, 2020