Election Night 2020 – Here’s How Your Vote Will Actually Be Counted

This story is part of Elections 2020, CNET’s coverage of the run-up to the November vote.

Early voting hit record levels this year as Americans seek to avoid crowds at polling places due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 99 million votes have already been cast, setting the stage for a marathon counting process that could continue for days or weeks after today’s election.

Millions more across the country are expected to show up at polling stations today on Election Day to cast their votes in person. All of this means that there will be many votes to count.

Although the US does not have national criteria for how voting is conducted, the ballot count is remarkably consistent across the roughly 3,200 counties in the country. Except in a handful of unusual cases, vote counting is done by machine, speeding up the process of counting the 150 million or more votes expected to be cast in the race between Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival. Joe Biden.

In some counties, voters fill out a paper ballot, which is then fed into an optical scanner that records the elections. In others, voters use a touchscreen device that records votes digitally. In most, but not all states, these touchscreen devices create a paper record of options. (The devices are not connected to the Internet).

All votes must be counted, a process that can become more complex as mail, provisional and foreign ballots are added to the count. This is how it happens:

When does the count for voting in person begin? Poll workers wait until the end of the day? Or can they have an advantage in counting?

When you vote in person on Election Day, the counting of votes does not begin until the polls close.

Once the polling places have closed, the votes are tabulated for each machine, be it an optical scanner, a touch screen device, or a lever-activated machine. A poll worker prints the vote count, which is often long enough to challenge a CVS receipt.

The total for each machine is then reported to county officials, but that happens differently based on county and state rules. Sometimes the paper record, as well as a smart card or USB stick containing information from the polling station machines, is delivered directly to county officials on election night. In other cases, the polling station count is called by phone or transmitted over a secure Internet connection.

Once the count is transmitted to county officials, a preliminary vote count is generated and shared with state officials and the media. News organizations use these counts to forecast the winners. It is important to understand that these are preliminary counts. Election results still need to be verified for the count to be considered official.

What do you mean verified? What does that involve?

Data from actual voting machines must be collected and examined. The votes will be counted again by the election officials. These results will be checked two or three times. Mail ballots and provisional ballots will also be reviewed. If verified, they will be added to the count.

What about provisional, absentee and mail ballots? How are they counted?

All of these ballots are counted much like any paper ballot is counted, although they must be confirmed before being fed into the optical scanner. Depending on the state, the process for counting mail-in ballots may be started before Election Day. But in some states, the process must begin on Election Day.

Vote-by-mail ballots, which some states offer to all voters, can be sent to officials through the postal service. Some states allow voters to leave ballots in secure ballot boxes. Due to the pandemic, many states that had previously limited absentee or mail voting to voters who qualified under certain circumstances have now opened the option to anyone.

As a result, the terms absentee vote and mail vote are now used interchangeably. Some election officials have started using the term “mail ballots” or “mail vote” because they are expanding the eligibility to vote absentee during the pandemic to include people who are not actually absent from their precinct at the time of the election. vote.

To begin the process of counting mailed ballots, elections officials match the signatures on the ballot with the registered signatures to determine if a voter is registered. Some states allow officials to begin the process of confirming the eligibility of those ballots before Election Day. Other states require officials to wait until Election Day to process those ballots. This year, nearly 64 million votes have already been cast by mail.

Once the ballots are verified, they go to the scanner like any other.

Provisional ballots are issued to voters at polling stations who have difficulty verifying that they are registered to vote. This can happen if people show up at the wrong polling place or in some states if they forget their identification. Those ballots are separated from other ballots and are not counted until the voter’s eligibility is confirmed. These ballots are counted after the polling station closes.

I voted by mail. How do I know if my ballot arrived in the mail?

Most states allow you to keep track of your ballot. You can check with your state secretary of state to find out how or if your mail-in ballot can be tracked.

Who gives the official results?

The first results are generally obtained after the polls close, but official results are not announced until after a certification process called scrutiny. This process ensures that every vote cast is counted and that every valid vote is included in the official election results.

The process involves double and triple checks for accuracy. It also involves a bit of bookkeeping to make sure that the number of ballots that were delivered to voters and returned to election officials matches the number of votes recorded. In addition, it involves resolving discrepancies, correcting errors, and taking the necessary corrective measures to ensure completeness and accuracy before certifying the election.

Once everything has been completed, a county board of elections certifies the election and generates an official vote count.

How long does this take?

Each state has its own timeline for counting after a general election. The process usually concludes at the end of November, but it can last until December in some states.

Early voting and mail-in ballots were close to three-quarters of the number of votes that were counted during the entire 2016 presidential election. This flood of ballots, many of which must be handled manually, could lead to certification of the results take longer this year.

But the biggest problem that could prolong the vote is the threat of legal challenges in some states that could stop or delay the count.

“Even with the volume of votes sent by mail, the timelines are quite realistic for any normal election management problems that may arise,” said Steven Huefner, a professor at the Ohio State University Moritz School of Law. “But if there is some kind of legal fight, and the courts can’t resolve it fast enough, that could cause some serious problems.”

Is there a deadline by which all states must certify the election?

Yes. It’s December 8th.

Why December 8?

If you are an American, you may recall from your high school civics class that voters in the US do not directly vote for president and vice president. They vote for electors who will cast votes. This process requires a deadline by which states must decide which voters to send to vote in national elections.

States are supposed to nominate presidential electors to the electoral college before December 8, although that can run until December 14, which is when electors gather in state capitals to cast their votes. Votes and election certificates from each state are counted by Congress on January 6.

Could heavy use of mail-in ballots affect when we meet projected winners?

Yes. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, we didn’t get official results until weeks after the elections. Reliance on mail-in ballots, as well as early voting, will likely complicate the count this year.

This process is laborious and time consuming. Election officials must verify that the ballots are from registered voters. They then need to verify that each ballot came from the person it supposedly came from. In cases where ballots are damaged or cannot be read with scanners, election officials may need to interpret the ballots to ensure that all votes are counted.

Each verified ballot will be counted, regardless of how it was cast.

“There is often the notion that if it is not a close race, officials stop counting eligible absentee or provisional votes,” Heufner said. “But that’s not true. Election officials always process every vote that is eligible for counting.”

According to the Associated Press, twenty-seven states require absentee ballots and mail-in ballots to be received on or before Election Day. Depending on the state, Election Day postmarked mail-in ballots may arrive after November 3 and will still be counted. For example, the Washington state deadline for receiving ballots by mail is November 23.

With that in mind, determining the projected winner could be difficult. An official count could take weeks.