Provisional ballot

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A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there is some question in regards to a given voter's eligibility. A provisional ballot would be cast when:

The voter refuses to show a photo ID (in regions that require one)
The voter's name does not appear on the electoral roll for the given precinct.
The voter's registration contains inaccurate or out-dated information such as the wrong address or a misspelled name.
The voter's ballot has already been recorded

Whether a provisional ballot is counted is contingent upon the verification of that voter's eligibility.

In the 2004 US Presidential Election, controversy arose out of arguments regarding the interpretation of the criteria for determining the eligibility of voters using provisional ballots. Many allege that these discrepancies of interpretations, particularly in Ohio, may have been a deciding factor in the outcome of the election. In the 2004 election, at least 1.9 million provisional ballots were cast, and 676,000 were never counted due to various states' rules on counting provisional ballots. ^[1]

A guarantee that a voter could cast a provisional ballot if he or she believes that they are entitled to vote was one of the guarantees of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.