How the 7 Swing States Will Count Votes and Post Election Results

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The 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5 likely hinges on the outcome in seven battleground states.

Battlegrounds—also called swing or purple states—are where support for Democratic and Republican candidates has been split in recent presidential elections. Current swing states are Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Most other states consistently break for the same political party and aren’t considered competitive.

The battleground states account for 93 of the nation’s 538 electoral votes. The winner needs at least 270 electoral votes—more than half—to win.

How long it will take for Americans to know the results in the seven swing states depends on the individual states’ laws.

State Election Laws Differ

Under the U.S. Constitution, elections are conducted by each state.

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Unofficial results often are reported soon after polls close, sometimes within hours. News organizations often announce presumed winners of national races within hours or by the early morning of the next day.

But the official result takes longer for several reasons.

State laws vary regarding when to count ballots that are mailed in, dropped off, or cast during in-person early voting.

Though they go by different names, all seven battleground states allow some kind of absentee or mail-in voting. And all offer early in-person voting, which is now underway throughout most states.

Some state laws allow for early ballots to be tallied before Election Day. Others prohibit counting before polls close.

Mailed ballots received after Election Day still will be counted in some states, as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 5. The deadline for receiving them varies by state.

Verifying Voters

Counting ballots not cast in person can take more time.

Some states—Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan—require a voter’s signature on a mail-in ballot to be verified.

In Georgia, officials must verify that the driver’s license number or state-issued identification number included on the returned ballot matches what’s on file for the voter.

In Wisconsin, an adult witness must sign the ballot being returned, verifying the voter filled out his or her own ballot.

In North Carolina, a voter using an absentee ballot must sign a certificate witnessed by a notary or two adults who also provide their addresses.

Provisional ballots can complicate the process further.

A provisional ballot usually is used when a voter shows up at a precinct to vote and his or her name doesn’t appear on the list of registered voters.

After being marked, a provisional ballot is slipped into a secrecy envelope and kept separate from the regular ballot box. After the polls close, that ballot will be counted only if the voter is confirmed as eligible to vote.

But even after all ballots have been tallied, the results still aren’t official.

Each state has a canvass period and certification process in which officials formally certify their state’s results, which usually takes place around three weeks after Election Day.

Candidate Joe Biden flipped Arizona in his favor in 2020, besting incumbent Trump by fewer than 10,500 votes or 0.3 percent.

The deadline in Arizona to register to vote in this election cycle was Oct. 7. In-person early voting began two days later and continued through 7 p.m. on Nov. 1.

Voters on the state’s Active Early Voting List automatically receive a ballot by mail. Those can be returned by mail or at drop boxes at the state’s polling places.

Counties can begin tabulating those ballots after early voting begins. Early ballots that come in on Election Day will be tabulated in the days immediately following the election.

But before any are counted, election officials must compare the signature on the ballot envelope to the voter’s signature on file.

Military members and other overseas citizens can cast their ballots by fax or by uploading to a secure system maintained by the secretary of state. Ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Anyone who attempts to vote on Election Day has “the right to cast a ballot,” according to the Arizona secretary of state. But provisional ballots only will be counted if the county recorder can verify the voter’s eligibility.

On Election Day, polling locations in the 15 Arizona counties close at 7 p.m. Anyone in line at that time is allowed to vote.

After polls close, ballots are either tabulated at the polls or at a county’s central counting location.

Maricopa County is home to about 2.4 million registered voters—more than 60 percent of the state’s electorate.

In the aftermath of the 2020 contest, Trump and other Republicans alleged that Arizona’s election was rife with voter fraud. Ultimately, lawsuits against Arizona and Maricopa County officials were dismissed. In 2020, county officials certified the results 17 days after Election Day.

Election Day voters in Maricopa County usually make up 10 to 15 percent of the vote in the county. To vote in person, Arizonans must present identification, get a new ballot printed, fill it out at the voting location, and feed it into a tabulator.

After polls close, rules direct bipartisan employees of Maricopa County to put memory drives from tabulators into tamper-proof packages and take them to MCTEC. There, workers verify they’ve been kept secure and load election results into the election server, periodically releasing updated race results.

State statute requires that bipartisan appointees validate the accuracy of the vote-tabulation system through a random hand-count audit of 1 percent of early ballots and 2 percent of votes cast at a voting center.

Canvassing begins on Nov. 11. Canvassing is the process of accounting for every ballot cast. It ensures each valid vote is included in the official results.

During the canvass, election officials resolve discrepancies and check for accuracy before certifying the results as final.

If a county hand-count audit is held, each recognized party on the ballot appoints representatives to participate. County officials have until Nov. 21 to certify their results.

A statewide canvass will be conducted on Nov. 25. The deadline for Arizona to certify election results is Dec. 2.

Nevada

Nevada has six electoral votes and nearly 2.4 million registered voters.

All active registered voters were sent ballots by mail, unless they opted out. And most Nevadans traditionally vote early or by absentee ballot.

In 2020, a little more than 77 percent of the state’s voters cast ballots. Only about 11 percent voted on Election Day. The rest voted early in person or returned absentee ballots.

To be counted in Nevada, mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the county no later than four days later, on Nov. 9.

Early in-person voting in Nevada began on Oct. 19 and runs through Nov. 1. On Day 1 of early voting, 42,237 Nevadans cast ballots.

Tallies of those early ballots can’t be released before polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Under Nevada law, “compromising the secrecy of the ballot by releasing results early is a crime,” according to Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar.

Even on Election Day, eligible citizens can register to vote and cast a ballot in the state.

In the hopes of speeding up results, new guidance from Aguilar instructs election officials to start tabulating early voting returns and mail ballots at 8 a.m. on Election Day.

By 6 p.m., county clerks and registrars are to provide their first election results to the secretary of state’s office for verification.

“Voters deserve available results on Election Night; releasing results sooner will increase transparency, help us combat misinformation, and alleviate pressure on election officials … [and] this change is a win for our entire state.”

Clark County—home to Las Vegas and 71 percent of Nevada voters—has 132 polling and drop box locations.

Ballots are tabulated on voting devices and saved on removable media that are taken by two election board members to a receiving center or counting place, according to Nevada law.

“If practical,” the law stipulates, those election board “members must be of different political parties.”

Members of the general public are allowed to observe the delivery of those voting components in sealed containers and watch vote-counting.

Nevada’s electronic voting system isn’t connected to a network or the Internet, and it can’t connect wirelessly. All components go through a series of tests and audits before they can be used.

And components have a chain of custody, with “tamper evident” security seals. Access to them is limited to authorized personnel.

City or county clerks supervise the operation of the central counting places.

As soon as the returns from all the precincts and districts have been received by the board of county commissioners, the board shall meet and canvass the returns.

Counties have up to 10 days to certify elections.

In 2020, the Nevada GOP sued, citing claims of fraud. So the election was not officially finalized until the state’s Supreme Court certified the results on Nov. 24.

This year, Nevada’s deadline to certify its election results is Nov. 26, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

As of Oct. 29, more than 1.1 million absentee ballots had been sent out, and a little more than 511,000 had been returned.

The ballots must be returned by mail or in person at a ballot drop-off location by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, when polls close.

Absentee ballots are counted by being put through a tabulator at polling places on Election Day. To be counted, the envelope must include a signature from the voter along with one from a witness and the witness’s address.

They also can be processed at what’s known as a “central count” location, common in larger municipalities, such as Milwaukee.

To vote on Election Day, Wisconsin residents must show a photo ID that meets state standards when checking in at a polling place. State law does not authorize or require a voter’s signature to be verified.

At each polling place, there normally are seven election inspectors led by a chief inspector who is coordinated by the municipal clerk. Municipal clerks also can appoint tabulators to help count votes.

The group of inspectors normally includes Democrats and Republicans. Under state law, the party that garnered the most votes in the territory covered by the polling place during non-presidential election years “is entitled to one more inspector than the party receiving the next largest number of votes at each polling place.”

Wisconsin has a three-step process for certifying elections.

After polls close and ballots have been entered into the machines for voting, poll workers convene their “board of local canvassers.” Anyone, including the media, may observe and record the proceedings from a designated area.

Municipal clerks transmit results to Wisconsin’s 72 county clerks, who are required to post unofficial results on their websites. Wisconsin doesn’t have a statewide system for reporting unofficial results on Election Night, and there isn’t a central official website where results will be reported.

“The municipality, or the county, on behalf of the municipality, is responsible for ballot retention post-Election Day,” a spokesperson for the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission told The Epoch Times. “The two entities would need to work together to determine which option is best.”

Counties have 14 days to transmit their certified results to the state.

This year, that’s Nov. 19.

The state uses all paper ballots, which are fed into a tabulator in each precinct to calculate the results, Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini told The Epoch Times.

Early in-person voting is open at regional sites within each county for a minimum of nine days and for up to 28 days ending on Nov. 3.

Counties were allowed to start the early-voting period as late as Oct. 26.

Early votes are tabulated when cast, Forlini said.

Absentee ballots are received and stored securely by township clerks, he said.

To be counted, mailed absentee ballots must be received by the voter’s local clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Ballots returned by military and overseas voters must be postmarked by Nov. 5 and received within six days after Election Day.

Cities and townships can provide written notice to the secretary of state and begin processing and tabulating absentee ballots early. But totaling the vote count and generating, printing or reporting election results isn’t allowed before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

At that time, precinct officials—including at least two Republicans and two Democrats—will canvass the election to ensure that the number of ballots cast matches the number of voters who received a ballot, Forlini said.

One is directed to the county clerk. One goes to a probate judge. And one remains with the local clerk, according to Forlini.

Ballots are placed in sealed containers, and the serial number of the seal is recorded in the ballot book. Ballots remain with the local clerk, Forlini said.

Precinct results are then delivered to the county clerk.

Some counties, such as Macomb, deliver them in person. Others, including Oakland, do so by modem, using an air-gap computer that has not been connected to the internet.

But Michigan’s results remain unofficial until the Board of State Canvassers audits them and certifies the election.

That county-level canvass process begins the day after Election Day and must be completed within two weeks. This year, the deadline is Nov. 19.

The Board of State Canvassers meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Nov. 22. The meeting will be livestreamed.

Under Michigan law, the state must canvass and certify the election results no later than the 20th day after the election, which falls on Nov. 25 this year.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes and a little more than 9 million registered voters.

Oct. 21 was the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania. In 2020, slightly more than 76 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in the presidential election.

The period for “early on-demand voting” differs by county. The deadline to apply for a “no-excuse mail-in” or absentee ballot was Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. Some locations accepting those ballots in person had already closed before Oct. 29.

The deadline to return a mail-in or absentee ballot is 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. Pennsylvania law requires voters to return their own ballots. A voter with a disability may use a form to designate someone else to deliver his or her ballot.

Unlike many other states, Pennsylvania law prevents counties from opening any ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day, when voting starts at more than 9,100 polling places.

On the morning of Election Day, Pennsylvania poll workers can begin counting mail-in ballots.

They’ll begin counting in-person ballots when polls close at 8 p.m. Poll workers will continue counting into the next day, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Poll watchers from political parties with candidates on the ballot can observe the counting. The locations for vote tabulation vary by county.

In Philadelphia County, home to more than 1.1 million voters, ballot tabulation will take place at the Philadelphia City Commissioners Office & Election Warehouse, a spokesman for the Philadelphia City Commission told The Epoch Times in an email. The Philadelphia County Board of Elections, led by three city commissioners, will count the ballots, he said.

Each county must submit the initial results to Pennsylvania’s Department of State by 3 a.m. on Nov. 6.

The county boards will meet to canvass the election results by 9 a.m. on Nov. 8. During that process, they’ll reconcile results to ensure the number of people who voted in each precinct matches the number of ballots.

Election officials also will check provisional ballots and process those that are eligible to be counted. By 5 p.m. on Nov. 12, counties must submit their results to the Department of State. Military-overseas ballots must be delivered by that time.

By Nov. 25, counties must certify their election results. After reviewing them, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt will certify election results statewide.

In-person early voting started in all 100 counties on Oct. 17 and ended on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.

On the first day, a record 353,166 ballots were accepted at polling sites statewide, according to preliminary North Carolina State Board of Elections data.

That surpassed the previous first-day record set in 2020 by 1.3 percent.

By Election Day in 2020, when the state went for Trump, about 65 percent of North Carolinians had cast their ballots.

That was up from 62 percent of voters casting early ballots in 2016. Trump won the state’s electoral college votes that year, too.

This year, the state’s official voter registration deadline was Oct. 11. But any voters providing acceptable photo identification will be allowed to register and vote during early voting.

North Carolina absentee voting has been adjusted since Hurricane Helene ravaged the western part of the state on Sept. 28. Now, voters from the 25 counties hit hardest by Helene’s flooding and mudslides can return absentee ballots to any early voting site during early voting.

Those counties are Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey.

On Election Day, voters without the required photo ID still can vote by filling out a form explaining why they don’t have identification, or by casting a provisional ballot and showing valid identification at their county board of elections office by 5 p.m. on Nov. 14.

But results still will be unofficial.

The day after the election, bipartisan teams at every county board of elections will conduct an open-to-the-public hand-count audit to ensure voting equipment recorded voters’ choices accurately, according to the state board of elections.

The state board of elections chooses two groups of ballots to count from each county, either from individual precincts or early voting sites, or all the absentee ballots cast in a county. The state tells each county which groups to count. Examined in the audit is always the top contest on the ballot—this year, the presidential race.

Also counted are absentee by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 5 and those received from military members serving overseas. They can arrive as late as 5 p.m. on Nov. 14.

The deadline to register to vote was Oct. 7.

Early voting began on Oct. 15 and ended on Nov. 1. And Day 1 smashed records, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

More than 310,000 cast ballots, he said, up from 136,739 on the first day of voting in the 2020 presidential election and up from 134,962 on Day 1 of voting in the 2022 midterms.

On Election Day, polls will be open in the state from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Voters not able to show valid identification to poll workers can vote by provisional ballot and will have three days to resolve questions of eligibility. Any voters in line by 7 p.m. still will be allowed to vote.

Absentee ballots are verified in Georgia by elections workers as they are received. Information on each ballot is cross-checked with an official photo ID on file with the state, according to a spokesman for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

On Election Day, elections workers will begin tabulating early and absentee ballots at 7 a.m., the spokesman said. Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 to be counted, he said.

All the voting data—the scanner memory card, the paper ballots, the voting machine access cards voters use to operate voting machines, and electronic poll books with voter information—are placed in sealed containers.

These are delivered to the county election superintendent by the poll manager and at least one other poll worker or law enforcement officer.

The rules say that the counting “shall not cease” until the results are all tabulated, barring an emergency. The results are then reported to the secretary of state.

In 2020 a water leak, originally reported as a burst pipe, led to a counting delay of several hours at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena polling station in Fulton County.

After the election, paper ballots are stored by the clerk of the county superior court with other county records. If there is no contest to the election they may be destroyed after two years.

State rules require each county election board to meet by 3 p.m. the Friday after the election, this year on Nov. 8, to conduct a review of precinct returns.

The election must be certified by 5 p.m. on the Monday after Election Day. This year, that Monday is Veterans Day. So the deadline will be extended to the next day, Nov. 12.

But even the certification deadline is the subject of a legal battle in Georgia.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.