Politics

/

ArcaMax

When will we know election results? Why it might not be over on Nov. 5

Candy Woodall, The Baltimore Sun on

Published in Political News

BALTIMORE — In 2022, Maryland knew who won its U.S. Senate race by midnight on Election Day.

And in the last presidential election, Maryland knew who won its 2020 contest by midnight on Election Day.

But the nation waited four days to find out that Joe Biden had prevailed in battleground Pennsylvania and captured the White House.

Though the candidates are different this year, state elections officials, pollsters and analysts are predicting similar scenarios this week.

As polarization has deepened and seven battleground states tend to choose presidents, America’s Election Day has turned into election week.

“I think this is where voters just need to know election night is not necessarily going to be results night,” said Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

She thinks that advice not only applies in battleground states but also battleground districts like the 6th Congressional District in Maryland, where Montgomery County Democrat April McClain Delaney is in a tight race with Washington County Republican Neil Parrott. The state’s U.S. Senate race between Democrat Angela Alsobrooks and Republican Larry Hogan is also closer than usual in reliably blue Maryland.

“It will probably come down to mail-in ballots in close races,” Antoine said. “A lot of our races we’ll know on election night, but [the 6th Congressional District] could be counting down to the very last ballot.”

And though it could mean more counting, here’s something she loves to see across the state: “Turnout is high. It’s exciting to see the number of voters coming out and the number of voters taking advantage of same-day registration. These are the highest rates we’ve seen for same-day registration.”

As of Monday, more than 1.6 million Marylanders had cast their ballots, according to Jared DeMarinis, state elections administrator.

When will the swing states have results?

Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are running neck-and-neck in the top battleground states, according to polling.

Close races there could be slower to count, especially in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which have state laws that prevent them from processing mail-in ballots until Election Day.

In 2020, it took Pennsylvania four days to count mail-in ballots, particularly in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties. It was the first year of mail-in voting for the state, and it began when the COVID-19 pandemic made it a popular option.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt on Thursday explained in a video why Pennsylvania’s results may not be ready on election night.

“Counting millions of ballots takes time. For every single vote cast in this election, there will be a voter-verified paper ballot that election officials need to securely handle and count,” Schmidt said. “Predicting exactly when Pennsylvania will have unofficial results that show a clear winner is just not possible.”

But, despite some misinformation in the state, it’s normal and to be expected — especially if the race is as close as polls predict and there’s a high turnout.

 

“Ultimately, it comes down to how close any race is. The closer the race, the longer it takes to know who won and who lost,” Schmidt said.

Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, told CNN that voters shouldn’t expect election results until after midnight Wednesday.

“There’s always a struggle with the count,” she said. “In 2020, we counted 168,000 ballots. We have 105,000, so we’re nowhere near that size this year, and of course, there was the pandemic, so we had a lot of other stuff to put in place.”

Some Arizona election officials have forecast that it could take 10 to 13 days of counting in some areas of the battleground state.

Nevada’s Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said voters there deserve results on election night, and he’s striving to make that happen.

Will Trump accept election results?

But even if the nation knows the results on election night, there could be a challenge — or several legal challenges — to consider: Trump has not said if he will accept the election results.

Harris has said she would accept election results.

Trump is already warning of a stolen election.

“The only thing that can stop us is the cheating. It’s the only thing that can stop us,” he said last week in Arizona.

His campaign is already laying the groundwork for legal fights over non-citizen voting, overseas ballots, “fake ballots and forms,” “rampant cheat” and “unscrupulous behavior.”

The Harris team has already worked through hypothetical legal scenarios and set up “voter protection” teams, according to CNN.

And the country’s elections systems, after going through this with Trump in 2020, knows what to expect.

“In 2020, the election deniers were improvisational,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice. “Now that same election denialist impulse is far more organized, far more strategic and far better funded. At the same time, the election system is far better able, we believe, to handle something like this.”

______


©2024 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

Al Goodwyn Michael Ramirez Ed Wexler Adam Zyglis Steve Benson Joel Pett