- Moderator
- #1
Or must they?
Donald Trump at a rally in Iowa “We should know the result of the election on November 3rd, the evening of November 3rd. That’s the way it's been and that's the way it should be."
Except when it’s not. In fact...it has never been that way.
There has never been a requirement...or even an expectation that all ballots be tabulated by the end of Election Day. And they usually are not. It typically takes longer to count absentee ballots, which, by law, are just as valid as any other.
So if you want to know the way it has really always been, don’t listen to Trump who’s goal is to disenfranchise mail in voters.
For starters, no state ever reports its final results on election night.
Typically, news outlets are able to declare winners the night of the election using partial counts and exit polls, which allow them to see how much of the vote is going to which candidate and calculate whether a candidate still has a path forward to win.
Each state has its own laws for when it needs to certify the election results, and none falls on Election Day.
Delaware is the only state that will certify its results within the same week as Election Day. Most states will certify their results in the last two weeks of November, with some states even extending until the second week of December.
Additionally, polls don't even close in California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington until 11 p.m. ET, and Hawaii's polls don't close until midnight on the East Coast.
Donald Trump at a rally in Iowa “We should know the result of the election on November 3rd, the evening of November 3rd. That’s the way it's been and that's the way it should be."
Except when it’s not. In fact...it has never been that way.
There has never been a requirement...or even an expectation that all ballots be tabulated by the end of Election Day. And they usually are not. It typically takes longer to count absentee ballots, which, by law, are just as valid as any other.
So if you want to know the way it has really always been, don’t listen to Trump who’s goal is to disenfranchise mail in voters.
FACT CHECK: Trump Falsely Claims That Votes Shouldn't Be Counted After Election Day
"I think it's terrible when we can't know the results of an election the night of the election in a modern-day age of computers," Trump said. But the vote totals are never fully counted the same day.
www.npr.org
Typically, news outlets are able to declare winners the night of the election using partial counts and exit polls, which allow them to see how much of the vote is going to which candidate and calculate whether a candidate still has a path forward to win.
Each state has its own laws for when it needs to certify the election results, and none falls on Election Day.
Delaware is the only state that will certify its results within the same week as Election Day. Most states will certify their results in the last two weeks of November, with some states even extending until the second week of December.
Additionally, polls don't even close in California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington until 11 p.m. ET, and Hawaii's polls don't close until midnight on the East Coast.