Nearly 20 million Californians are registered to vote in Tuesday's election. That's more than 78 percent of eligible voters and it's the highest number of registered voters ever in the state. Forum takes your voter registration and Election Day questions and we'll check in on how smoothly the voting process is going in the Bay Area. (31 minute audio program)

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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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ATLANTA (AP) — Drawing on her years of military experience, Maureen Heard was careful to follow all the rules when she filled out an absentee ballot in 2016.

She read the instructions thoroughly, signed where she was supposed to, put the ballot in its envelope and dropped it off at at the clerk’s office in her New Hampshire town. She then left town so she could return to a temporary federal work assignment in Washington, D.C.

"I have learned over the years, many years in the military of filling out forms, how to fill out forms — and I was very intimidated by the process," said Heard, who served in the Air Force and was a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I have to make sure I get it absolutely right.' And then it didn't count."