Election Night Delays: How Mail-In Ballots are Changing the Dynamics and Timing of Election Results

"Delays Expected in Election Results due to Mail-In Ballots" The tradition of waking up to the election results the day after voting was disrupted in the 2020 'mail-in ballot' election. Several major Democrat cities, including Fulton County in Georgia, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Detroit in Michigan, paused their ballot counting around 9 PM. The reasons given ranged from burst pipes to court orders requiring special handling of certain ballots.

2020 Election Night Delays

In Fulton County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located, the counting of ballots was temporarily paused around 10:30 p.m. on Election Night due to a burst water pipe that had delayed the processing of absentee ballots at the State Farm Arena. Despite initial reports that the counting had stopped, election officials clarified that the process continued but at a slower pace. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, officials announced they would stop counting for the night around 9 p.m. and resume the next morning. However, the counting continued throughout the night at a reduced pace to process the large volume of mail-in and absentee ballots. Allegheny County in Pennsylvania also paused counting around midnight on Election Night due to a court order involving around 29,000 ballots that required special handling. The counting resumed the following day after the issue was resolved. In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Donald Trump was leading Joe Biden by 109,000 votes until an overnight count of roughly 170,000 mail-in votes gave Biden a lead of 11,000 votes. Maricopa County, Arizona saw GOP chairwoman Linda Brickman testify before members of the Arizona State Legislature that she personally observed votes for President Donald Trump being tallied as votes for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden when input into Dominion machines.

Anticipating Delays in Future Elections

The NY Times has warned voters that due to the increase in mail-in ballots, election results could take a while. This delay may initially give the "false impression" that Donald Trump is the winner. For the second straight presidential election, it is becoming increasingly likely that there will be no clear and immediate winner on election night and that early returns could give a false impression of who will ultimately prevail. According to the Election Project, Democrats turned in 18 million mail-in ballots in the 2020 election vs. 10 million from Republicans in the 20 states that reported party registration by ballot. By the 2022 midterms, Democrats turned in 7.6 million ballots vs. 5.1 million from Republicans. The Trump campaign and the RNC have begun a program called "Swamp the Vote" designed to encourage voters to cast early ballots - including by mail. The campaign has also released a memo warning of a "blue mirage," saying that "early Democrat leads in absentee and vote by mail are not at all predictive of victory on November 5th."

Battleground States and Potential Delays

With the election just over 6 weeks away, two critical battleground states - Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - are facing potential delays in reporting full results. Democrats have called for reforms to allow election officials to open and flatten ballots, known as "preprocessing," before the polls open on Election Day. State lawmakers have refused to budge. The delays are likely to be most pronounced in the cities of Philadelphia and Milwaukee, which are home to large numbers of Democratic voters. These cities could take longer to count their ballots than less populous counties simply due to the sheer volume of votes. Arizona and Nevada, two other battleground states, are also likely to face delays, although for different reasons. Both states rely heavily on mail-in voting. In the 2020 presidential race, Nevada wasn't called for Joe Biden until four days after the election, while Arizona took nine days.

Bottom Line

It seems clear that the increasing use of mail-in ballots is changing the dynamics of election night results. While this may lead to delays and potential misunderstandings about early results, it is also a reflection of changing voting habits. What are your thoughts on this shift? Do you think it's a necessary evolution or a cause for concern? Share this article with your friends and let's get a conversation started. Don't forget to sign up for the Daily Briefing which is every day at 6pm.