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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —

Election Day is here. And, California voters may be making some mistakes that could disqualify their ballot.

Voters were asked to check their voter registration status and their polling sites before Tuesday so they don’t run into problems Election Day.

Kim Alexander, president of the California Voters Foundation, breaks down 5 common mistakes people make when voting:

1) Forgetting to Sign Mail-In-Ballot Envelope

The biggest mistake voters make with their mail-in ballots is they forget to sign and date the envelopes. 

If the mail-in ballot envelope is not signed and dated, the ballot cannot be validated.

2) Signature is Mismatched

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It's scary how much each candidate in the upcoming midterm elections knows about you. And it's all information you've willingly given up over time.

The trove of data goes beyond voter registration information like your name, home address and date of birth. Thanks to an army of data crunchers who marry that information with data you drop at a clothing or automobile site, many candidates often have intimate knowledge of who you are and whether you're likely to support them. 

The increasingly effective use of big data to create targeted political ads is one of the main causes for the climbing costs of running a campaign.

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If you’ve been nervously counting down the days until the November 6 election, we’ve got some bad news for you: You might have to wait quite a bit longer before you know who will control the House. That’s because roughly a dozen key races are taking place in states where election officials often spend days or even weeks counting votes, making it difficult for media outlets to project the winners of close contests.

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Currently, the terms of gubernatorial debates and whether or not they happen are largely dictated by the front-runner. Conventional wisdom says debates are more likely to help the challenger or the candidate who is behind in the polls.

It's true there were plenty of debates before the June primary, including a televised debate in San Jose with the six top-polling candidates for governor. But that's not the same as a one-on-one matchup, where it's harder to skate under the radar.

"The most important thing about debates is that it gets people on the record making commitments before they’re elected," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. "It isn’t so much that every registered voter will watch the debate, but rather you have a public record of what they say they'll do if they win."

While debates might not increase voter turnout, at least they would help publicize the fact that an election is happening and who's running, Alexander said. (full story)