Allowing Election Day postmarks, notifying voters when their ballots can’t be counted, and increasing state funding for elections would all improve California’s vote-by-mail process, according to a new report from the California Voter Foundation.

The report, called Improving California’s Vote-by-Mail Process, was released following a four-election study of Orange, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz Counties. It found that 99 percent of mailed ballots that weren’t counted were due to one of three factors. The most common reason was ballots arriving after Election Day (61 percent), followed by ballot envelopes lacking a signature (20 percent) and signatures not matching the one on file (18 percent).

Allowing voters to permanently opt-in to voting by mail was mandated by the state in the early part of last decade. However, the Legislature more recently balked at the $20 million per year cost and suspended the mandate, making it optional for counties to provide the service.

In addition to the recommendations above, the report urges improved standards for signature verification, enhanced early-voting options, use of barcodes to improve tracking, and expanded voter education efforts.

For the full report, including a complete list of its recommendations, visit the California Voter Foundation’s website at www.calvoter.org.