Am I allowed to vote using a provisional ballot?

Voters can vote provisionally if they believe they are eligible. A provisional ballot may or may not be counted.  Provisional ballots are offered if there’s an issue with or question about a voter’s eligibility to vote. 

With that said, if you are not eligible to vote and attempt to do so, you could be subjected to prosecution as the county voter registrar now is mandated to notify the attorney general, Secretary of State, and the relevant county/district attorney if someone is not eligible to vote and either registered to vote or voted.

**Please be careful of this if you have a prior felony conviction.**

When am I eligible to vote a provisional ballot?

You are eligible to vote a provisional ballot if: 

• You claim to be an eligible voter, but your name does not appear on the list of registered voters, and your registration cannot be determined by the voter registrar; 

• You have applied for a ballot by mail, but have not returned it or canceled it; 

• You vote during extended polling hours ordered by a state or federal court; 

• You are registered, but are attempting to vote in a precinct other than the one in which you are registered; 

• You do not present any acceptable form of identification; 

• You are registered in the precinct, but your address is not located in the political subdivision conducting the election; 

• It is a runoff election and you voted in another party's primary in the primary election.

Is it a crime to lie on an Affidavit of Provisional Voter?

If you give false information under oath on the Affidavit of Provisional Voter, you will be committing a misdemeanor. The penalty for illegally voting in an election when you know you aren’t eligible has now increased from a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to a year in prison) to a second-degree felony (punishable by two to 20 years in prison).