General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFolks think all mail voting will delay election results
While that is true for the late arriving ballots, for the most part it looks as if it would actually make knowing who won the election a lot faster based on how most states begin counting the votes before the election and release the tallies at the end of election day, and most people casting their votes early. A nationwide vote by mail law would likely have the effect of more quickly knowing who won the presidential election, not slower.
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-16-when-absentee-mail-ballot-processing-and-counting-can-begin.aspx
MH1
(17,573 posts)until Election Day.
Thanks to Republican legislature.
jorgevlorgan
(8,278 posts)But most states are different. OH and arizona for instance start counting a week or so before.
On edit: if Biden wins NC, OH and AZ, it will be a very short election night cause those will be among the first states called.
Vivienne235729
(3,376 posts)the NEXT day. And I'm taking my elderly mother's ballot down there too for her. In the past, I'd lollygag but not this year. It's going back RIGHT AWAY.
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)Wisconsin isn't different, that's three BG states right there.
jorgevlorgan
(8,278 posts)Per a new law passed (still have to stay in secrecy envelopes till election day).
But for states that have had mail voting widely accessible for a while, there has been better systems adopted like OH.
But at this point with Biden looking like he is coming on top in NC, still in FL, AZ and OH, those states I believe all count early ,and thefirst results released will likely be a commanding part if he vote count, making Election day likely one of the shortest we've had. With the core blue states plus those, that is already 270 even without MI, WI and PA
Also even in mi, pa and wisconsin, processing and counting will start on eday. Giving them a good amount of time to tally a decent number of mail ballots that can be reported after polls close.
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)Being somewhat optimistic.
Vivienne235729
(3,376 posts)DemsIn2020
(81 posts)jorgevlorgan
(8,278 posts)Chaos is the GOPs MO
Hassler
(3,369 posts)Showing up earlier to avoid Operation Kill the Post Office, so our outcome should will be known earlier, and it usually is clear by election night or the next morning.
GreenEyedLefty
(2,073 posts)I live in Oakland County and signed up to count absentee votes on election day. I did this for the August primary too.
Municipalities collect ballots, verify the signatures on the outside envelope and sort them by precinct. The ballots are then locked away in storage until election day. On election day the ballots are delivered to the precincts to be counted. Counting can begin as soon as the polls open (7 am).
In Oakland County, cities and towns can sign up to have their absentee ballots counted at a central location supervised by the county election board and bipartisan poll watchers. This is where I worked in August.
We worked in 4 rooms. Each of the 4 rooms had 5 big tables. Each table had 2 people opening ballots, 2 people unfolding ballots, and one person flattening ballots. I was an opener. I opened the envelope, matched the number on the ballot to the number on the outside envelope. If the numbers did not match, I alerted election board personnel. If the ballot did not have a secrecy sleeve, I was instructed to insert the ballot into an extra sleeve (provided) before passing the ballot to the unfolder. The unfolder removed the ballot from the secrecy sleeve and detached the perforated stub from the ballot. They then passed the ballot to the flattener. The flattener bundled the ballots into stacks of 25 and walked them to the scanner, the same machine used in precincts.
We counted one precinct at a time. On August 4 we counted 50,000 absentee ballots. Our table counted approximately 2,500. We were done before 11:00 a.m.
There were several backstops to this process to ensure fairness and transparency. 1) it was bipartisan. When we sign up to work we disclose our political affiliation and it is shown clearly on our name tags. Tables were mixed. 2) overseas ballots had to be manually filled in. This work was done at a table staffed with one Democrat and one Republican. 3) ballot irregularities were handled at stations staffed with one Republican and one Democrat. 4) ballot counters were instructed to leave any internet connected devices in their cars or at home. No one was permitted to go to their car, and if anyone did, they were sent home. 4) law enforcement was on hand in case of fraud, theft or ballot tampering. I witnessed none. Because we had a lot of down time after we were done counting I had the opportunity to talk to Republicans, all of whom were quite moderate. We carefully avoided talk about the current president but I thought it was interesting.
On November 3 I am 100% certain there will be party attorneys on hand to watch the ballot counting process. We are expecting at least double the number of ballots.
jorgevlorgan
(8,278 posts)Early. That's something anyways.
GreenEyedLefty
(2,073 posts)I forgot to mention that the rooms have envelope opening machines that can open hundreds of envelopes in just a few minutes. I estimate it took me less than 5 seconds per ballot to remove the ballot from the envelope, match the numbers and pass the ballot to the next person. That's at least 720 ballots per hour. We had 40 people doing this one piece on Aug. 4. They are saying we could be processing and counting until midnight or later... so 7 am to midnight is 17 hours, minus meals and breaks.
Oakland County has 990,000 registered voters. If even half of them request absentee ballots, and half of the towns and cities ask us to count at our central location, we are talking about 250,000 ballots. I think we can do this by midnight on November 3.
They are already saying the measure would only give clerks 10 hours to process as many ballots as possible. And the measure only applies to municipalities of 25,000 people or more. I am heartened by the bipartisan measure but clerks will need more support than that.
jorgevlorgan
(8,278 posts)That is just insane! This all needs to be fixed as soon as Democrats take back control (hopefully this year).
I know that Wisconsin is in a similar mess and a ton of their clerk's resigned because of it.
This is actually absolutely unacceptable.
Also, thanks so much for everything you are doing!