Community News

Is a Voting Mark on a Ballot Secret if It Is Returned in a Vote-By-Mail Envelope?

 

by: Bob Page
Published: May 4, 2026

 

ORANGE COUNTY...Last year, claims circulated across social media about how a voter’s votes could be seen through a ballot return envelope.  

ROV wants our voters to know that the secrecy of every voter's ballot is extremely important. As a result of last year’s concerns, we have purchased envelopes with improved secrecy lining. 

We also do not attempt to determine how an individual voter marked their ballot, which would violate the voter's state constitutional right to vote a secret ballot. 

Additionally, ROV ballot envelopes include a privacy lining and do not have holes. 

And the California Elections Code provides that anyone who is not on our staff who examines another voter’s ballot to determine how that person voted could be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to three years. 

Our ballot processing is entirely transparent. Voters can visit our office to see for themselves that we do not individually review each ballot envelope by hand to detect how a voter marked their ballot and do not throw away any voted ballots. 

Voters have several secure options to choose from to return their ballot – mail their ballot, place it in a Ballot Drop Box, hand deliver it to our office or a Vote Center, or visit a Vote Center to vote an in-person ballot.  

We encourage voters to visit ocvote.gov/track to track their ballots and to confirm when we have received and counted your ballot.