When Will Mail-In Ballots Be Counted? See States’ Processing Timelines

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A Clark County, Nev. election worker scans mail-in ballots on October 20, 2020 in North Las Vegas. Nevada allows officials to count ballots received in advance of Election Day in order to speed the tabulation of results that evening.

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Ethan Miller/Getty Images

2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
In Swing States, Officials Struggle To Process Ballots Early Due To Strict Local Laws

But in a handful of states, election workers can’t begin the work of opening envelopes, verifying signatures and removing secrecy sleeves, let alone counting, until the day of the election. In swing states where the margins of victory are likely to be close, those rules may mean it takes hours or days after the polls close before a winner is declared.

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State law in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, for example, does not allow election officials to process or count ballots until Election Day. Michigan election workers can begin processing ballots a day in advance, but they can’t be tabulated until Nov. 3.

Some states and counties have purchased new technology or bolstered staffing to help tackle the huge number of mail ballots more efficiently.

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While President Trump has baselessly sown doubts about mail voting and warned of a national crisis should the result not be decided on election night, election experts say delays in no way suggest a problem with the integrity of the vote.

Elections
If There’s No Election Night Winner, Don’t Panic

«If we don’t have results at 9 or 10 p.m. on election night, that doesn’t mean there’s anything nefarious going on, Rachel Rodriguez, an election official in Wisconsin, told NPR’s Miles Parks. «It doesn’t mean that there’s any sort of conspiracy. It doesn’t even mean that there’s a problem. It just means that clerks are still trying to count ballots and they are trying to make sure that everybody’s votes are counted.