WASHINGTON (SBG) — It’s been almost four days since Election Day, and election officials are still plowing through the more than 150 million ballots cast during the election.
There are various reasons why American voters are still waiting for results, with the process of combing through the record number of ballots cast this year one of the biggest reasons for the delay. Voters areexpected to cast roughly 158 million ballots this year, which will surpass the previous early turnout record set in 2016 if the numbers keep pace, according to The New York Times
Some states allow election officials to begin counting early mail-in ballots before Election Day, easing the headache of reading through millions of ballots. In other states, officials are not allowed to begin counting mail-in ballots before Nov. 3, meaning early results could appear to favor President Donald Trump or former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Battleground states like North Carolina processed ballots for weeks leading up to the election. Elections officials expected almost 100% of those votes to be counted by Tuesday, allowing them to focus on ballots cast on Election Day.
Americans are waiting on results on five states in particular: North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Either one of these states are critical to Trump’s chances of hanging on to the White House.
Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania voters cast approximately 124,000 absentee ballots in 2020, according to the state’s election website. Tabulating these votes will likely drag out for several days thanks in part to Trump’s decision Thursday to sue Pennsylvania to block the counting of provisional ballots in cases where voters submitted defective mail-in or absentee ballots.
The lawsuit was one of two the campaign filed in Pennsylvania. Trump also filed one seeking to require certain first-time voters quickly submit proof-of-identification, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Supreme Court ruled in this case that the state can accept mail ballots sent by Election Day, prompting the president to say in a Nov. 2 tweet that the high court’s move will “incite violence.”
Arizona:
Officials in Maricopa, Arizona, announced Friday a new batch of 60,000 ballots. The county, which covers Phoenix and is one of the largest counties in the state, showed the former vice president ahead 972,570 votes to 912,115 votes, with roughly 142,000 votes left to count. There are also provisional ballots in the county left to verify, creating an additional burden to finishing up the vote tally.
Nevada:
Ongoing ballot counts in Nevada show Biden ahead of Trump in the state, which has six Electoral College votes. His lead doubled to more than 22,000 votes after Clark County, Nevada, released a treasure trove of ballots, CNN reported Friday. Counting votes in the county is slow due to a law allowing active voters in the state to receive a mail-in ballot for an election if there’s a state of emergency.
“Due to statutory requirements, we have to continue to receive mail that was postmarked by November 3rd through the 10th of November,” Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said in a statement. “And cures are – and voters who need to cure their ballot have until November the 12th.”
The use of absentee ballots skyrocketed in Nevada and elsewhere because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far reportedly killed more than 235,000 people, according to data from John Hopkins University.
Georgia:
The former vice president took the lead in Georgia Friday after Clayton County reported ballots, prompting Republicans to call for a potential recount. Recounting the vote will add an additional element to the process, forcing voters in the state to wait longer to determine a winner.
“Of approximately 5 million votes cast, we’ll have a margin of a few thousand,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Friday. “With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia.”
North Carolina:
Trump leads in North Carolina by more than 76,000 votes, with nearly 99% of ballots already reported, according to The Associated Press. Officials want to see if 116,000 requested absentee ballots are returned by Nov. 12, so they will continue counting until after that day. The state still does not know how many of those voters chose to vote on Election Day, creating the possibility that the number of outstanding votes could shrink.
“With very few exceptions, North Carolina’s numbers are not going to move until November 12 or 13,” North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said Wednesday.
