You’re given a provisional ballot at the polling place. What does that mean?

You arrive at your voting precinct ready to cast your vote.

But the poll worker at the early voting center or at your precinct can’t find your name in the voter registration system. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten to bring a valid photo ID with you.

Instead of turning you away, the poll worker hands you something called a “provisional ballot” for you to cast your vote.

What is a provisional ballot?

A provisional ballot is given to voters who say they are properly registered in the state and that they’re eligible to vote at the precinct in a particular election, but their eligibility cannot be determined in that moment, according to Suzy Trutie, Miami-Dade County’s deputy supervisor of elections.

If you are given a provisional ballot when you show up to vote, fill it out as you would a regular ballot. After you submit a provisional ballot, it gets sent to a local canvassing board that will determine whether the ballot will ultimately be accepted or rejected.

“The provisional ballot is ... the same as the ballots which are being used by voters for the election,” Trutie said. “But it’s placed in a secrecy envelope and then it’s sealed in another envelope. That provisional ballot will be presented to the canvassing board and they will make a determination.”

Depending on the circumstances that caused you to receive a provisional ballot in the first place, you might have to complete another step to ensure that the canvassing board accepts your ballot.

What you need to do

If you are given a provisional ballot at your polling center because you did not provide an acceptable photo and signature identification at the polls, you likely do not have to do anything else for your ballot to count.

“The local canvassing board will simply compare your signature on the provisional ballot certificate with the signature on file,” according to the Florida Division of Elections. “If the signatures match, your provisional ballot will be counted, provided you are otherwise eligible.”

If the signature on your provisional ballot does not match the signature the Elections Department has on file, you will be asked to provide a Provisional Ballot Cure Affidavit, which is essentially just a form to fix the issue, and you must return it to the supervisor of elections by 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.

Documentation you need

If you are provided a provisional ballot for another reason, such as if you are in the wrong precinct when you go to vote or the poll worker cannot find your voter registration, you must provide supporting evidence that proves your voter eligibility to the supervisor of elections in your county no later than 5 p.m. two days after the election.

Supporting documentation might include your driver’s license or another form of identification such as a U.S. passport.

After you submit your provisional ballot, you will also receive instructions on how to find out if your ballot gets counted in the election, and if your ballot was not counted, you will receive the reasons why it wasn’t.

How to prepare

If you plan on voting in person during the early voting period or on Election Day, Nov. 3, you can try to avoid being given a provisional ballot by bringing proper identification — a valid photo ID with signature to vote in Florida — and checking out your registration and voter status beforehand to ensure that you show up at the right polling location.

If you are given a provisional ballot on Election Day, you can find more information about the process on the Florida Division of Elections website.