Don’t expect to know the winner of the election on Election Day. Those were the good old days. Election officials are lowering expectations. You’ll just have to wait awhile.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has already said the state won’t know its election results until the day after the election. Maricopa County election officials have warned it will take them 10 to 13 days to count all the ballots. The AP is already cautioning that highly competitive races in Nevada may not be able to be called on Election Night. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt has told voters to not expect results on Election Day.
Things worked better when we had results then we went to bed.
Now, we have Election Month. Election officials warn people to prepare themselves for weeks of uncertainty.
So, why has Election Day turned into Election Month?
These delayed results are driven primarily by mass mail-in voting. Specifically, how states’ laws relate to the acceptance and tabulation of mail-in ballots.
Seventeen states accept mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. Some even accept ballots that arrive up to two weeks late. When a state allows ballots to roll in for days after an election, results will be delayed for days.
For instance, Nevada, one of the key battlegrounds and U.S. Senate races this year, accepts ballots that arrive four days after Election Day. So, the state is unlikely to be able to call any competitive races until at least four days after the election.
Not only does accepting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day lead to delays in election results, but it also violates federal law. Congress passed a law that created a single national Election Day to be held on “Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year.”
Just last week, the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this, ruling that federal law does not permit a state “to extend the period for voting by one day, five days, or 100 days.” There is a similar lawsuit in Nevada. These cases won’t apply to the 2024 election.
Delayed canvassing also delays results.
Some states like Florida, for instance, begin canvassing of absentee ballots ahead of time. They don’t wait until after the election. It works. Florida law criminalizes any leaks about the vote count. This is a proven system that works. In 2022, Florida managed to call all its U.S. House, Senate, and gubernatorial races within two hours of polls closing. Election Day still means something in Florida. Other states might copy Florida.
Congress wanted a single day when we all knew the election was over. Endless elections wasn’t what Congress had in mind.
In 2022, the last U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races were finally called on Nov. 23, a total of 15 days after Election Day. The United States House was worse. The last House race was not called until Dec. 13, a total of 35 days after Election Day. And we are expecting similar delays again this year.
We have to restore the “day” in Election Day, so we can restore trust in the process.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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