One thing many people don’t realize is that their voting record is public information. That means anyone can request access to your voting history. However, the candidates or measures you voted for are not public information. In fact, not even we know how you voted since your identity, once we have verified your signature, is separated from your ballot. Nor do we ever provide your phone number or email address. And, particularly during high-profile elections, campaigns are regularly checking whether or not you’ve returned your ballot. They can then use that information to focus their “get out the vote” efforts on voters who have yet to return their ballot.
So what does this mean? While we can’t promise anything, it definitely stands to reason that once you’ve returned your ballot you may get fewer calls and mailers. Additionally, the more ballots we receive early, the more ballots we can report on election night. Therefore you have multiple incentives to get your ballot in early.
The good news is that many of you already have – our returns so far are 30% higher than what we projected – so keep it up!
Election Connection 