Provisional voting is a "fail safe" voting procedure that reduces the number of voters who are turned away from the polls without voting. At the polls, a voter may declare that he or she is eligible to vote but either his or her name fails to appear on the official list of eligible voters or an election official asserts that the individual is not eligible to vote. With provisional ballots, this voter is issued a provisional ballot, and the determination as to whether to count the ballot is made after election day.

The Help America Vote Act also requires that each state develop a free access system that any individual who casts a provisional ballot may access to determine whether the provisional ballot was accepted, and if not, why the ballot was not accepted. In Maryland, a voter can determine whether his or her provisional ballot application was accepted by searching the UMBC on-line database or by calling 1-800-222-8683.