# Can Clerks Void A Mega Millions Ticket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157 "2017-05-21T17:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/1 "2017-05-21T17:32:13Z")
I was in 7-11 today and someone bought a Mega Millions ticket and she told the girl, you put the wrong number in, void this and give me these numbers. She didn’t use the card, but wrote numbers on a piece of paper. The clerk told her Mega Millions were unable to be voided and she’d have to pay for it. The manager came over and eventually the lady gave the money and walked out in a huff. Is this actually so? I would assume there must be some method of voiding a lotto ticket. What if a clerk who knew s/he was going to be let go printed up a few hundred of them and left. Would the store be stuck with them? Anyone who works with lottery machines know if Mega Millions or Powerball tickets can be voided once printed? Other types too? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/2 "2017-05-21T17:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Q: Can a Mega Millions® ticket be voided or canceled? > > A: No. Once a Mega Millions® ticket has been printed, it cannot be canceled. > **[Mega Millions®](https://myarkansaslottery.com/games/mega-millions)** > > Mega Millions® is a multi-state jackpot game. Drawings are held at 10 p.m. CST every Tuesday and Friday. Draw sales end at 9:45 p.m. CST Tuesday and Friday. Five numbered balls are drawn from 1 to 70 and one numbered ball is drawn from 1 to 25. If... > [@](#): > > Can Powerball tickets be cancelled? No, a Powerball ticket CANNOT be cancelled by the retailer after it is generated, so be sure to check your numbers and verify your ticket cost prior to purchase. [http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/faq\_powerball.aspx](http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/faq_powerball.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/3 "2017-05-21T19:58:29Z")
This is more suited for GQ. I’ll move it there in case anyone else has any further information. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/4 "2017-05-21T21:08:39Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Is this actually so? I would assume there must be some method of voiding a lotto ticket. What if a clerk who knew s/he was going to be let go printed up a few hundred of them and left. Would the store be stuck with them? Yes, the store is stuck with them. But they could withhold them from the clerks last paycheck, or sue to recover the costs. And the store would collect if one of them won, and the clerk hadn’t paid for it. I don’t know if it’s in effect for the national ones, but the store manager used to be able to contact the lottery office and ask them to cancel (void) a series of lottery tickets. But they had to do this X hours in advance of the lottery drawing. And had to have a good reason. Generally used when someone stole a whole bunch of lottery tickets, or spilled soda over a whole roll of tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/5 "2017-05-21T21:11:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Yes, the store is stuck with them. But they could withhold them from the clerks last paycheck, or sue to recover the costs. And the store would collect if one of them won, and the clerk hadn’t paid for it. THAT, I believe, would violate labor laws. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/6 "2017-05-21T21:24:18Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Yes, the store is stuck with them. But they could withhold them from the clerks last paycheck, or sue to recover the costs. And the store would collect if one of them won, and the clerk hadn’t paid for it. > > I don’t know if it’s in effect for the national ones, but the store manager used to be able to contact the lottery office and ask them to cancel (void) a series of lottery tickets. But they had to do this X hours in advance of the lottery drawing. And had to have a good reason. Generally used when someone stole a whole bunch of lottery tickets, or spilled soda over a whole roll of tickets. It’s extremely rare that you can withhold things from an employee’s check, and in those cases, it would have to be in a contract they signed in the first place. I don’t think that they would be allowed to withhold the money, but suing them, sure. This is the same question, though, what if a clerk knows it’s their last day, so they flood the parking lot with the gas pumps, or break all the beer bottles, or any other acts of vandalism that someone may be inclined to do. Sure, the store would have to eat the cost, but it’s not something that many people would think of doing, because you would likely be in quite a bit of trouble afterwards. But, yeah, every store I have been in that I noticed they sold lottery tickets, (I have only bought a lottery ticket maybe 6 times in my life) it always said that all lottery ticket sales were final. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/7 "2017-05-21T23:38:27Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > But, yeah, every store I have been in that I noticed they sold lottery tickets, (I have only bought a lottery ticket maybe 6 times in my life) it always said that all lottery ticket sales were final. But a sale isn’t completed until I accept the merchandise and hand over the money. If a clerk prints the wrong numbers on the ticket and I refuse to accept it, it’s hard to imagine they can force me to pay. Or do you acknowledge it somehow before it’s printed? I’ve never bought one. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/8 "2017-05-22T16:13:37Z")
Thanks, I didn’t realize that. Seems kind of odd you can’t void them. Is that for all lottery tickets? Anyone work a lotto machine? I mean like the state issued ones. Anyone know if a ticket won that wasn’t wanted? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/9 "2017-05-22T16:40:19Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Seems kind of odd you can’t void them. Is that for all lottery tickets? I can’t find any cites from U.S. lotteries that allow cancelling a ticket, but have found that they can be in Canada. For Ontario: > [@](#): > > A player may cancel his/her ticket and obtain a refund if he/she has paid for the ticket. However, the refund will be provided only if he/she delivers up the ticket to the lottery retailer from whom he/she purchased it before leaving the lottery retailer’s premisesand such cancellation is effected within thirty (30) minutes after purchase, and prior to the close of play for the first eligible draw, and, if the ticket is: > > (i)Purchased prior to 12 a.m. Eastern Time, before 12 a.m. Eastern Time; > > (ii)Purchased after 12 a.m. Eastern Time, before the daily closing time of lottery game operation;Rules Respecting Lottery Games > > (iii)For a sports lottery game, before the closing time of the first event on the ticket; > > (iv)For an Advance Play, the ticket is cancelled for all draws; and, > > (v)For a raffle type lottery game, before all available valid ticket selections are issued. [https://tamarinassets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/1479828289560\_5834634165b7d4fd43867004.pdf](https://tamarinassets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/1479828289560_5834634165b7d4fd43867004.pdf) > [@](#): > > Anyone know if a ticket won that wasn’t wanted? If you Google, you can find lots of examples like that. The second link below with an example of a clerk claiming she did have to buy them as brought up in a previous post. The third is a story of an unwanted one in Canada that was cancelled by customer request. > **[Unwanted Lottery Ticket Puts $7 Million Into Grocery Store Clerk's Pocket —...](https://silverlotto.com/blog/2016/1/30/unwanted-lottery-ticket-puts-7-million-into-grocery-store-cl.html)** > > Michael Donnelly is Virginia's first top-prize winner in the Cash4Life game. > A grocery store employee accidentally generated the wrong lottery ticket for a customer who then chose another ticket. [http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/23/us/unwanted-lottery-ticket-brings-holder-10-million.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/23/us/unwanted-lottery-ticket-brings-holder-10-million.html) > **[Voided Ticket Lottery Win](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/into-the-void/)** > > A lottery ticket that would have won $30 million was voided because the buyer didn't want it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/10 "2017-05-22T18:28:32Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > But a sale isn’t completed until I accept the merchandise and hand over the money. If a clerk prints the wrong numbers on the ticket and I refuse to accept it, it’s hard to imagine they can force me to pay. Or do you acknowledge it somehow before it’s printed? I’ve never bought one. I doubt this really happens all that often. If it were a major problem, there are plenty of easy ways to solve it, perhaps by requiring customers to write their selections down and banning any customers who fail to buy a ticket that matches what they wrote down. In fact, aren’t lottery tickets usually issued by filling out a little machine-readable thing with bubbles? So they already have this method implemented. There are lots of cases where a clerk making a mistake or a customer being a moron can cost stores $1 worth of merchandise. Cost of doing business. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-clerks-void-a-mega-millions-ticket/787157/11 "2017-05-22T20:32:20Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I can’t find any cites from U.S. lotteries that allow cancelling a ticket I meant states, not cities. Just found one: > [@](#): > > Pick 3 and Pick 4 players should also verify the correct: 1) play type, 2) draw date(s) , and 3) bet amount. If there is an error in the Pick 3 or Pick 4 ticket, have the retailer CANCEL the ticket and print another. REFUSE to pay for a ticket that is not printed clearly or is not exactly what you requested. A player has a specific amount of time to cancel a Pick 3 or Pick 4 ticket. In some cases because of the time of the draw, the player may not be able to have a Pick 3 or Pick 4 ticket canceled. > **[Home - South Carolina Education Lottery](https://www.sceducationlottery.com)** > > The official website of the South Carolina Education Lottery