Vote by Mail Unit
Phone: 530-886-5650
Toll-free: 1-800-824-8683
Email: [email protected]
TTY (voice to text): 1-800-877-8339
Remote Accessible Vote by Mail (RAVBM) is a way to receive your ballot by email and mark it using a computer and assistive devices, such as screen readers. The ballot must be printed and returned either by mail or at a ballot drop-off location. California does not allow voters to return a ballot by email or on the internet.
If you are a military or overseas voter, see the Military and Overseas Voting Program (UOCAVA) page.
Click here to view a step-by-step demonstration of the RAVBM ballot marking process.
Table of Contents
- Requesting an RAVBM Ballot
- Accessing Your RAVBM Ballot
- Returning Your Voted Ballot
- How RAVBM Ballots Are Processed
- Election Integrity for RAVBM
Requesting an RAVBM Ballot
If you are not yet registered to vote, please visit registertovote.ca.gov. You must be registered to vote no later than 15 days before Election Day.
Any registered Placer County voter may use RAVBM. The voter must have internet access, an email address and a printer.
To request an RAVBM ballot, choose one of the following options:
- Visit voterstatus.sos.ca.gov during the election period
- Call 530-886-5650 (toll-free 1-800-824-8683)
- Email [email protected] – include your full name, residence address, birth date, the email address where you will receive your ballot access code and the election date
- Print and mail an RAVBM application
RAVBM voters will still receive a vote-by-mail ballot and return envelope in the mail. We recommend using the official return envelope to speed up the processing of your ballot.
Accessing Your RAVBM Ballot
RAVBM becomes available 29 days before the election and is live until 8 p.m. on Election Day. You may request an RAVBM ballot at any time during this period, but please allow three business days to receive the email with your ballot access code.
RAVBM is compatible with any operating system, any screen reader on the market and most web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
You will get an access code at the email address you listed on your voter record. Use this access code and your birth date at ravbm.uocava.com/placer to access your ballot. After accepting the Member Declaration, you will fill out the ballot in an offline web interface, review your choices, and download your ballot packet as a zip file.
If you cannot find the email, check your spam/junk folder by searching for the subject “Official Placer County Ballot”. If you still cannot find the email, contact our office to get your access code.
The ballot packet zip file includes:
- Your voted ballot in pdf format — Use a pdf reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or a web browser such as Google Chrome to view and print the ballot.
- Return envelope image — For returning by mail if you do not have an official return envelope; you must provide your own envelope and wrap this page around it
- Instructions for how to return your ballot
- Click here to read the Placer County Voter Information Guide online
- Click here to read the California Voter Information Guide online
Returning Your Voted Ballot
Vote your ballot and review your selections, then print your voted ballot from the ballot packet zip file that will automatically download.
- Seal your voted ballot in a mailing envelope. Use either the vote-by-mail return envelope you get in the mail or provide your own envelope.
- (If you provide your own envelope) Print the return envelope image from the ballot packet, fold it in half and attach it to the envelope so that all mailing information is easily visible. You may need to adjust the printing scale of the image to match the size of the envelope. Sign and date the back of the envelope next to the red X. This must be a wet signature.
- Choose one of these return options:
- Mail your ballot. It must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the Elections Office no later than seven days after Election Day. Postage is free within the United States.
- Drop off your ballot in California. Bring your ballot to any vote center, polling place, ballot drop box or ballot drop-off location in California no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. Another person can drop off your ballot for you if they print and sign their name in the authorization section of the ballot envelope.
How RAVBM Ballots Are Processed
The Placer County Elections Office processes RAVBM ballots much like regular vote-by-mail ballots. However, when a voter supplies their own envelope, the ballot must be checked in and extracted by hand, as the return envelope image dimensions are different from an official return envelope.
The voter’s signature on the return envelope is compared to the signature(s) on the voter’s current and previous voter registration cards. If the signature is missing or does not match, we challenge the ballot and contact the voter so they can correct the issue. Ballots with good signatures are extracted from their envelopes, unfolded, reviewed for damage and print quality, boxed and then tabulated by Placer County IT staff. The entire process is open to public observation for transparency.
Election Integrity for RAVBM
Dominion Voting Systems provides the RAVBM system used by Placer County. The California Secretary of State has thoroughly tested and certified this system. It is the same system used for military and overseas voters who receive their ballot by email.
RAVBM does not allow internet voting. To ensure voting privacy and security, the RAVBM system does not have the capability to store or transmit a voter’s selections or the capability to tabulate votes. A voter’s selections never leave the voter’s device.