As I write, Americans are trudging to the polls to mark ovals on paper, touch screens, use ballot marking devices, and otherwise record their choices for president, Congress, state legislatures. States and a host of other functions and ballot measures. Around 78 million Americans voted before election day, often by mail. Different systems are used, depending on each state’s preferences, and rules vary for when ballots can be counted and how they are recounted if necessary. If this seems to add a level of complexity to the vote count, you’re right. That’s why we’ll all probably have to exercise a little patience before the results of this year’s elections are finalized.

Two-week delay in votes in key county

“The outcome of the presidential race could depend on Maricopa County, and election officials warn that counting all the votes could take nearly two weeks,” CBS Phoenix said. reported last week. “With more than 2.5 million active voters, Maricopa County is the third-largest voting jurisdiction in the country and one of the most contested areas in the race for the White House. The county expects it will take 10 to 13 days to count all voters. votes, which is consistent with previous years.

Arizona is a swing state that went for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 in less than 11,000 votes. So, with 2.5 million dollars from the state 4.368 million voters In a county that has already warned that counting ballots will take some time, we could all be waiting a while to see some pretty significant election results.

Or maybe Americans will have to wait for Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania or one of the other key states. Even if the presidential race is decided relatively quickly, control of Congress could remain in limbo pending the outcome of the vote. some home runs actually in play.

Voting procedures vary across the country

How votes are cast, processed, and counted varies from state to state, and even from jurisdiction to jurisdiction within some states. According to Verified votewhich promotes “responsible use of technology in elections,” 69.9% of U.S. voters live in jurisdictions that use hand-marked paper ballots. Another 25.1 percent use ballot marking devices that electronically present options to voters and then print human-readable paper ballots that are counted. Five percent use fully digital electronic direct recording systems, with results stored in computer memory.

While 78 million ballots were launched before election day, this does not mean that they have already been counted. Some states, including Arizona, count them upon arrival, according to at the National Conference of State Legislatures, although the results must remain secret under penalty of law. These ballots can be cast at early voting locations or by mail, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington where, Ballot Remarkspostal voting is the main way to vote. However, in other states, including swing states like Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, counting cannot begin until Election Day. Early voting in these states makes it easier for voters, but not necessarily for election workers.

Maricopa County’s delay, then, is not due to a mountain of early-submitted ballots, but to a particularly long 2024 runoff and the laborious process of processing and verifying “early” ballots that are withheld until ‘at the last minute and dropped off. on election day.

There may be a lot of last-minute, not-so-early voting because voting this year is intimidating. North of Maricopa in Yavapai County, I counted 13 statewide ballot measures in addition to various federal, state and local offices. We also have a local measure, as do other jurisdictions throughout the state. THE What’s on my ballot? “brochure” looks like an old-fashioned telephone directory.

“I thought it might take a little while” to fill out, Sophia Tesch said The Washington Post about the election in Arizona. “It took me 35 minutes.”

The long ballot paper has two pages that must be fed separately into a tabulator to be counted. The machine may jam if it moves too quickly. This requires more time and patience.

Mail-in ballots are easier to cast than count

Now imagine this scenario playing out across the country, especially as mail-in voting has become become more popular. While voting early from home makes voters’ lives much easier, especially when the ballot looks like a Scantron test form, it adds complexity for the recipient.

“Counting mail-in ballots takes longer because the process involves additional levels of processing and verification that in some states cannot begin until Election Day,” TimeSimone Shah wrote as the elections approach. “The ballots themselves must be unsealed, and verification sometimes involves matching a signature or photo ID.”

In addition, some states, including Nevadaaccept ballots that are postmark before election day. This means that ballots may not all be available to be counted until the end of the week. That shouldn’t add any thrills to what is already a political thriller season, right?

The stories can still have fun

Then, of course, there’s the fact that this presidential election is as close to a 50/50 race as you’ll ever see between political candidates, and some of the down-ballot races are just as close. Many states have automatic tell the laws if the vote total falls within a narrow margin (0.5 percent in Arizona And Pennsylvania). In other states, candidates can request a recount if the margin is close (0.5 percent in Georgia1 percent in North Carolina).

With supporter tensions are at a high boiling point In the United States, we can assume that no one will miss an opportunity to demand a recount in elections where voting results are close and the results may depend on the interpretation of disputed ballots. This is all the more likely as confidence in electoral procedures is uncertain. About sixty percent of Americans “have a great deal or some confidence that ballots cast in the presidential election will be counted accurately in their state or by their local election officials,” according to at AP-NORC. This figure drops to 48 percent for the national count.

That said, maybe the polls were wrong and this election will be decided by such overwhelming margins that delays in some areas won’t matter. Then the stories will be completely irrelevant. Clear victories could resolve questions of who wins, who loses and who holds office.

But it’s likely we’ll all have to wait some time to see how these elections play out.