Why does it take so long to see election results?
0
Like Me

  Likes
4
Views

  Views
0

Shares

Why does it take so long to see election results?

From the attempted assassination of Donald Trump to Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, the 2024 political election season has been eventful, to say the least.But what experts say shouldn’t catch voters by surprise this election cycle is the wait times for ballots to be counted and the election results finalized. In 2020, Trump and his allies falsely claimed the election was stolen after the slow pace of counting mail ballots moved the presumed winner over from Trump to Biden. So why does it take so long to count ballots, and is there a way to speed up the process?While many may expect finalized election results by the end of election night, there is no deadline to count votes by the end of election day. The results that are reported live on Election Day are unofficial and mostly come from in-person votes — leaving out the final count for mail-in ballots. Localized control One of the main reasons why solidifying results takes time is because U.S. elections are not run on a federal level. States oversee the elections while local county or township officials run the process. The U.S. has over 10,000 jurisdictions tasked with overseeing the voting process. They all have their own different ways of executing the voting process. For example, states like Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio are able to start validating mail ballots ahead of Election Day. In contrast, battleground states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are not allowed to process mail ballots until Election Day. California allows ballots to be received even seven days after Election Day. Nineteen states allow a grace period to receive mail-in ballots, but only if the ballots were sent through the mail by Election Day. Since each state varies in mail ballot deadlines, locking in election results will also vary. A push for pre-processing According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think-tank for bipartisan solutions, pre-processing ballots can ease the workload of election workers on and after Election Day. Pre-processing prepares mail-in ballots for scanning into tabulated machines before Election Day. Unsurprisingly, this process can differ from state to state. In California and Florida, pre-processing includes opening mail ballot return envelopes, removing ballots, replicating damaged ballots and preparing ballots for scanning. Kansas and Maine prescribe special pre-processing timelines for municipalities that use optical scan voting systems. Maryland is the only state to restrict processing absentee ballots until the Thursday after Election Day. The Bipartisan Policy Center recommends providing at least seven days before Election Day for pre-processing, permitting election officials to scan ballots into tabulators before Election Day, and giving voters sufficient time to correct issues with their ballot. So, while the nation waits for the results of the next election, remember to be patient — mail-in ballots are not going anywhere.

From the attempted assassination of Donald Trump to Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, the 2024 political election season has been eventful, to say the least.

But what experts say shouldn’t catch voters by surprise this election cycle is the wait times for ballots to be counted and the election results finalized.

Advertisement

In 2020, Trump and his allies falsely claimed the election was stolen after the slow pace of counting mail ballots moved the presumed winner over from Trump to Biden.

So why does it take so long to count ballots, and is there a way to speed up the process?

While many may expect finalized election results by the end of election night, there is no deadline to count votes by the end of election day.

The results that are reported live on Election Day are unofficial and mostly come from in-person votes — leaving out the final count for mail-in ballots.

Localized control

One of the main reasons why solidifying results takes time is because U.S. elections are not run on a federal level. States oversee the elections while local county or township officials run the process.

The U.S. has over 10,000 jurisdictions tasked with overseeing the voting process. They all have their own different ways of executing the voting process.

For example, states like Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio are able to start validating mail ballots ahead of Election Day.

In contrast, battleground states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are not allowed to process mail ballots until Election Day.

California allows ballots to be received even seven days after Election Day.

Nineteen states allow a grace period to receive mail-in ballots, but only if the ballots were sent through the mail by Election Day.

Since each state varies in mail ballot deadlines, locking in election results will also vary.

A push for pre-processing

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think-tank for bipartisan solutions, pre-processing ballots can ease the workload of election workers on and after Election Day.

Pre-processing prepares mail-in ballots for scanning into tabulated machines before Election Day. Unsurprisingly, this process can differ from state to state.

In California and Florida, pre-processing includes opening mail ballot return envelopes, removing ballots, replicating damaged ballots and preparing ballots for scanning.

Kansas and Maine prescribe special pre-processing timelines for municipalities that use optical scan voting systems.

Maryland is the only state to restrict processing absentee ballots until the Thursday after Election Day.

The Bipartisan Policy Center recommends providing at least seven days before Election Day for pre-processing, permitting election officials to scan ballots into tabulators before Election Day, and giving voters sufficient time to correct issues with their ballot.

So, while the nation waits for the results of the next election, remember to be patient — mail-in ballots are not going anywhere.

Source

About admin

Leave a Reply

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE