By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – Officials say thousands of people who voted a provisional ballot in last week's election did not get counted. A survey of 59 of the state's 67 counties shows that officials have accepted only about 1,800 out of about 6,500 provisional votes. That's about 28 percent. Provisional votes can be cast by people who don't bring identification to the polls; who didn't receive requested absentee ballots; whose names aren't on official voter lists; or who may not be voting in the correct location. Officials say counties did handle the votes in a variety of ways. In the larger counties, like Jefferson, hundreds of provisional ballots were rejected after people were allowed to cast them outside their normal district. But Cherokee County officials say they had fewer provisional ballots and fewer questions about their validity. Meanwhile, in Lamar County, officials say no provisional ballots were cast at all.