Mail-in voting and provisional ballots: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. Voters who cast a provisional ballot on or before election day are also given an opportunity to "cure" it. In practice, this usually consists of going to the county registrar and showing their ID within the next few days after the election, but specific requirements vary by state. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived, and it is similarly impossible to get an accurate count of provisional ballots until you know which ones are valid. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles. However, nearly every election cycle sees a significant number of late ballots from members of the armed forces and Americans living abroad. Provisional ballots are a relatively recent development, but they are not unusual either.
In most election cycles, these ballots are not sufficient to change the outcome, which is why (for example) 2016 was called so early compared to 2020. But 2016's results were not official on election day. For example, California formally ascertained its electoral college appointments (pursuant to 3 USC 6) on December 12, 2016, which is well over a month after election day (November 8). Of course, everyone already knew that Hillary Clinton had won the state, but it wasn't official until that document was filed.
Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
Complexity of ballots: In most countries, you vote for one or two things at a time. In the US, we routinely have all of the following on the ballot at once:
- US President, in 1/2 of (federal, two-year) election cycles.
- US Senate, in 2/3 of election cycles. Occasionally, two seats will be up at once (for a special election which coincides with the regular election), which is the case in Georgia this year.
- US House, in every election cycle.
- State Governor, in some election cycles (varies by state).
- State legislature, in some election cycles (varies by state). Bicameral in all states except Nebraska.
- Other state officials such as state Attorney General (varies by state and election cycle).
- One or more ballot initiatives, in states that allow them. Some states also have county and municipal ballot initiatives.
- Municipal officers such as mayors, sheriffs, city councilors, etc.
Some states do state and municipal elections in "off-year" (odd-numbered) elections, which fall between federal election cycles. But most states don't.
Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
Complexity of ballots: In most countries, you vote for one or two things at a time. In the US, we routinely have all of the following on the ballot at once:
- US President, in 1/2 of (federal, two-year) election cycles.
- US Senate, in 2/3 of election cycles. Occasionally, two seats will be up at once (for a special election which coincides with the regular election), which is the case in Georgia this year.
- US House, in every election cycle.
- State Governor, in some election cycles (varies by state).
- State legislature, in some election cycles (varies by state). Bicameral in all states except Nebraska.
- Other state officials such as state Attorney General (varies by state and election cycle).
- One or more ballot initiatives, in states that allow them. Some states also have county and municipal ballot initiatives.
- Municipal officers such as mayors, sheriffs, city councilors, etc.
Some states do state and municipal elections in "off-year" (odd-numbered) elections, which fall between federal election cycles. But most states don't.
Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
Mail-in voting and provisional ballots: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. Voters who cast a provisional ballot on or before election day are also given an opportunity to "cure" it. In practice, this usually consists of going to the county registrar and showing their ID within the next few days after the election, but specific requirements vary by state. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived, and it is similarly impossible to get an accurate count of provisional ballots until you know which ones are valid. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles. However, nearly every election cycle sees a significant number of late ballots from members of the armed forces and Americans living abroad. Provisional ballots are a relatively recent development, but they are not unusual either.
In most election cycles, these ballots are not sufficient to change the outcome, which is why (for example) 2016 was called so early compared to 2020. But 2016's results were not official on election day. For example, California formally ascertained its electoral college appointments (pursuant to 3 USC 6) on December 12, 2016, which is well over a month after election day (November 8). Of course, everyone already knew that Hillary Clinton had won the state, but it wasn't official until that document was filed.
Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
Complexity of ballots: In most countries, you vote for one or two things at a time. In the US, we routinely have all of the following on the ballot at once:
- US President, in 1/2 of (federal, two-year) election cycles.
- US Senate, in 2/3 of election cycles. Occasionally, two seats will be up at once (for a special election which coincides with the regular election), which is the case in Georgia this year.
- US House, in every election cycle.
- State Governor, in some election cycles (varies by state).
- State legislature, in some election cycles (varies by state). Bicameral in all states except Nebraska.
- Other state officials such as state Attorney General (varies by state and election cycle).
- One or more ballot initiatives, in states that allow them. Some states also have county and municipal ballot initiatives.
- Municipal officers such as mayors, sheriffs, city councilors, etc.
Some states do state and municipal elections in "off-year" (odd-numbered) elections, which fall between federal election cycles. But most states don't.
Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
- Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
- Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
- State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
- Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
Complexity of ballots: In most countries, you vote for one or two things at a time. In the US, we routinely have all of the following on the ballot at once:
- US President, in 1/2 of (federal, two-year) election cycles.
- US Senate, in 2/3 of election cycles. Occasionally, two seats will be up at once (for a special election which coincides with the regular election), which is the case in Georgia this year.
- US House, in every election cycle.
- State Governor, in some election cycles (varies by state).
- State legislature, in some election cycles (varies by state). Bicameral in all states except Nebraska.
- Other state officials such as state Attorney General (varies by state and election cycle).
- One or more ballot initiatives, in states that allow them. Some states also have county and municipal ballot initiatives.
- Municipal officers such as mayors, sheriffs, city councilors, etc.
Some states do state and municipal elections in "off-year" (odd-numbered) elections, which fall between federal election cycles. But most states don't.
Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
- Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
- Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
- State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
- Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
Complexity of ballots: In most countries, you vote for one or two things at a time. In the US, we routinely have all of the following on the ballot at once:
- US President, in 1/2 of (federal, two-year) election cycles.
- US Senate, in 2/3 of election cycles. Occasionally, two seats will be up at once (for a special election which coincides with the regular election), which is the case in Georgia this year.
- US House, in every election cycle.
- State Governor, in some election cycles (varies by state).
- State legislature, in some election cycles (varies by state). Bicameral in all states except Nebraska.
- Other state officials such as state Attorney General (varies by state and election cycle).
- One or more ballot initiatives, in states that allow them. Some states also have county and municipal ballot initiatives.
- Municipal officers such as mayors, sheriffs, city councilors, etc.
Some states do state and municipal elections in "off-year" (odd-numbered) elections, which fall between federal election cycles. But most states don't.
Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
- Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
- Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
- State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
- Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.
- Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
- Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
- State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
- Mail-in voting: In many states, mail-in votes are allowed to arrive well after election day, provided they are postmarked on or before election day. It is physically impossible to count ballots which have not arrived. Because of the pandemic, 2020 has seen unprecedented mail-in voting compared to previous election cycles.
- Sheer scale: 70,000 people is rather small by American standards. You might see a similar number of votes cast in a smaller suburban or exurban county. For the big counties that materially affect the outcome of the race, they typically have hundreds of thousands to millions of votes to count. Even with a large number of people, optical scanners, etc. working continuously around the clock, this process will take time. And then, of course, at some point you're going to want official results. To do that, the counties have to report upwards to the state, because electoral votes are allocated at the state level. The state has to wait for every single county to count and report every single vote. If the race is close, the state may then have to conduct a recanvass or recount, which takes even longer.
- State law variations: Florida, for example, counted its vote quite fast this year, reporting most of its unofficial results within hours of the polls closing. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took much longer. This is in part because Florida law allows counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before election day, and Pennsylvania law does not.
- Differing priorities and budget: The target date for certification of final results in 2020 is December 8. This is the last day on which a state's electoral college votes will be presumed lawful (by Congress, which will count said votes in January), and so that is the date that most states shoot for. Trying to count millions of ballots faster than that would probably be doable, but it would cost more, and it's not clear how a faster count would materially benefit the residents of a given state. California routinely takes a month to count its ballots, but the residents don't seem particularly upset about that.