Voting booths
Voting booths
In 2020, Donald Trump had come down hard on continued vote counting, saying that it accounts to “fraud”.
In 2020, Donald Trump had come down hard on continued vote counting, saying that it accounts to “fraud”.
The final results of Tuesday’s midterms might still be weeks away owing to a number of factors, officials have said. One of them being that Georgia, a key Senate battleground, is headed to a run-off election. The result of this seat will determine who controls the chamber. Besides, different states have different rules regarding how mail-in ballots are counted.
In 2020, Donald Trump had come down hard on continued vote counting, saying that it accounts to “fraud”. This year as well, he has accused his political opponents of “trying to steal the election with bad machines and delay”.
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While the wait for final numbers is on, current data suggest more than 112.34 million Americans cast their votes in the midterms. Around 42 million people cast their ballots in early voting and by mail, that is even before November 8. This is a major reason why final vote count sees delay.
The Senate contests in Nevada and Arizona still undecided, with thousands of uncounted ballots outstanding in both states. In Nevada, the process is expected to stretch for at least another nine days.
When it comes to counting of votes, Pennsylvania election officials are allowed to start processing ballots only on election day. Seven other states are bound to follow the same rules as Pennsylvania. In Maryland, as per state rules, processing of ballots cannot begin until 10:00 local time the next day after polls.
In Washington DC and 16 other states, counting cannot begin until the polls close on election day. Counting can begin the same day in 23 states. Only 10 states allow ballots to be processed and counted before November 8.
Nineteen states have a grace period considering mail-in ballots. However, they should have been sent in by election day. California lets the ballots come in for another week. In Arizona, one of the key states, ballots should reach by election day, even though they have 20 days tally the final numbers.
The race for Nevada’s governorship, a US Senate race and three congressional seats remains uncalled, with tens of thousands of mail ballots still to be counted in Washoe and Clark counties, which make up 90 percent of the vote in Nevada.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe P Gloria told reporters that mail-in ballots would be counted as long as they were received before Saturday. The process of “curing” ballots with unclear signatures and verifying provisional ballots would continue into next week.
Election officials in Arizona’s most populous county said it could take until at least Friday to tally all votes. About 400,000 votes in Maricopa County remain to be counted, officials said. The race for governor and US Senate remained uncalled on Wednesday, with about 70 per cent of votes tallied.
Arizona and Nevada security officials were on high alert on Wednesday for election-related protests and allegations of voter fraud, as they continued to tabulate the vote.
(With inputs from agencies)
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