Dana Point Voters: How To Track Your Ballot

DANA POINT, CA — Many registered Dana Point residents have likely already returned their votes for the Nov. 5 General Election, but it’s important to know how to track your ballot.

Counties were required to mail out ballots by Oct. 7 — all active, registered voters are expected to receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the general election.

California’s Secretary of State is offering a “Where’s My Ballot?” tool called BallotTrax that allows voters to monitor the status of their vote-by-mail ballot. If you’re still waiting on your ballot to arrive in the mail, this tool can also be used to sort out where it may be.

Tracking Your Ballot

Whether you dropped your ballot at a dropbox, through the mail or in-person at a vote center, you’ll be able to see when your ballot is accepted through the state’s tool, which was created in 2020.

Residents can visit this link to access BallotTrax. Then, enter your legal first and last name, date of birth and your current zip code. The site will then prompt you to set up text and email alerts.

Once you’re in, you will be able to see your “current mail ballot status.” Scroll down and you’ll also see your previous mail ballots and whether they were cast in-person.

Ballot Box Collection

According to the California Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, ballots are collected on a regular basis from dropboxes.

• Ballots are retrieved from both staffed and unstaffed drop boxes at least every 96 hours, except weekends, between the 29th day before the election and the 10th day before an election.
• Ballots are retrieved from staffed drop boxes at least every 72 hours, except weekends, after the 10th day before the election through the closing of the polls on Election Day.
• Ballots are picked up from unstaffed drop boxes every 48 hours, except weekends, hours after the 10th day prior to an election through the closing of the polls on Election Day.

When the polls close on Election Day, all drop boxes shall be locked or covered at 8 p.m. and elections officials are expected to retrieve as many ballots as practical before 11:59 p.m.

Orange County elections officials are required to certify to Weber’s office that all ballots have been retrieved from all staffed and unstaffed drop boxes.