How Long Will Vote Counting Take? Estimates and Deadlines in All 50 States (NYT)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Alicia Parlapiano
Updated Nov. 2

Although many winners may quickly be evident on election night, the increase in mail voting because of the pandemic is expected to push back the release of full results in many key states.

The New York Times asked officials in every state and the District of Columbia about their reporting processes and what share of votes they expect to be counted by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 4. There is a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding results in any election, but here’s what they said to expect:
Many states will not have complete results on election night.

Even once the early and in-person ballots are counted, a significant number of votes could still be outstanding. Only nine states expect to have at least 98 percent of unofficial results reported by noon the day after the election. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia allow postmarked ballots to arrive after Election Day, so the timing will depend on when voters return them.

New York and Alaska will not report any mail votes on election night. (Rhode Island had also planned not to report mail votes that night, but its election board voted Monday to begin releasing them at 11 p.m.) Officials in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two key battleground states, have said full official counts could take several days.
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more (scroll down for state-by-state chart): https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/27/upshot/election-results-timing.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[Enterstageleft]

1. Just do it right...even if it takes 4-6 weeks.

tRump will lose if all the votes are counted!

[modrepub]

2. One Thing To Consider

Guam is staggering their ballot counting. Their polls closed a couple of hours ago since they are on the other side of the IDL. They used to use a large area where ballots could be counted. Now they are limiting the number of districts that enter that space to 30 at any one time. If there's 30 in the space you have to wait to do your counting until a group finishes and leaves.

If state-side counting goes similarly, then counting could be stretched out over a very long period of time. I have no idea what each county in my state (PA) is doing to tally each precinct. I knew someone who actually worked the polls and I think they tallied all the votes at the voting site after closing then went to the county courthouse where they recounted to verify their numbers before they could go home. I think similar precautions controlling how many districts can come into the courthouse at any one time might be in place.

This will obviously impact larger population counties more than smaller population counties. It may create a "Red Mirage" with rural counties finishing much earlier than their suburban and urban counterparts. If this bears out, expect shenanigans to begin.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Interesting. Well, it's done when it's done, regardless of what Anus Orange tweets. nt

[wnylib]

4. I heard an interview today with an election official

from Erie, PA, a key swing region for the swing state of PA. He said that they had received 85,000 requests for mail in ballots. (The population of the city of Erie is only around 100,000, not counting the rest of the county.)

He said that they expect their count to be completed with results available on Friday. So, if the rest of PA does not give Biden a large lead, it might be Friday before we know the results for PA.

[RussBLib]

5. what a frikkin' mess

Let's nationalize/federalize the elections, whatever you wanna call it. Just don't make the rules too onerous for the smaller, or less wealthy, states. I think national standards could go a long way in reducing voter suppression and keeping the vote honest. It's worth a try at least. Having 50 different standards is a little ridiculous.

STATES RIGHTS!!! (sigh)