(Riya Singh, Intern Journalist): When New York City voters cast primary ballots in June, few expected there would be no declared winner in some races one month later. It has taken election officials some time to do the counting.
Absentee ballots or mail-in ballots are more labor-intensive because you need to check the signature on the envelope to match it against the voter registration record. You need to open the envelopes, separate out the security envelope, then remove the voter’s ballot, stated Kim Wyman, Washington’s Republican secretary of state. “We want accuracy above everything. So it’s going to take time,” Wyman said.
Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah already vote almost exclusively by mail. California, New Jersey, Nevada, Montana and Vermont, and Washington, D.C. will automatically send mail-in ballots to all registered voters.
“We may not have official results for quite some time,” said Chris Krebs, who oversees election cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security. “Be prepared, be patient, and most importantly, participate in the process.”
Colorado is an all vote-by-mail state where Democrat Jena Griswold is the secretary of state. Colorado process mail-in ballots before Election Day. No results are reported until that night, but Griswold says there are other advantages.
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are all expecting large increases in mail-in voting this year, and all three were pivotal to deciding the outcome in 2016. But none allows for early processing of mail-in ballots.
So the question on everyone’s mind is, when will we know who won the election? Wyman said if it’s close, it could be mid-to-late November.
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