On election night: Why do some counties show no precincts having reported, yet they are reporting that votes have been counted?
The first results that are shown are typically vote–by–mail ballots. Voters may cast ballots up to 29 days before Election Day, and many voters do this by voting by mail. Counties may begin opening vote–by–mail ballots up to seven business days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until the polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Many elections officials choose to tally and report these early voted ballots first, instead of waiting for ballots or results to come in from the individual precincts. As a result, because no full precincts have been tallied and reported, the results from these early voted ballots that are reported on the Secretary of State’s Election Results website simply appear as raw vote totals because, in this initial stage, they are not attributed to individual precincts.
Related Questions
- On election night: Why do some contests show a very high percentage of precincts reporting, yet the number of total votes is low and continues to change?
- On election night: Why have some counties reported precincts and vote totals, while other counties have not reported any results?
- Why do some counties show no precincts having reported, yet they are reporting that votes have been counted?
