It’s very unlikely that voters will know the outcome of this year’s presidential race on Nov. 5, Election Day.
It could take days after polls close before the results become clear and weeks before they’re official.
The same is true for control of the U.S. House and Senate and for other close contests and local measures on the ballot.
So what can you expect to see in the coming days and weeks?
In 2020, it was four days after Election Day before a winner was declared based on unofficial projections. The uncertainty led to unfounded allegations of fraud and the defeated candidate denouncing the process, misleading voters.
Election experts have warned the same thing could happen again this year.
Ballots cast by voters on Election Day are tabulated relatively quickly, usually by machine, but even those results need to be double-checked.
Accurate vote counting takes time, say elections officials, especially when it involves mail ballots. Then there are the predicted legal challenges, required audits and recounts that can also extend the period it takes to determine the outcome.
The process requires some patience on the part of voters. What might look like delays are part of the normal process and not a sign that something’s gone wrong in the system.
With days to go before Election Day, and early voting breaking records, Bexar County officials said they are not anticipating any delays in counting the 2024 general election ballots.
Here’s how it should go, according to the Bexar County Elections Administration.
Polling sites close at 7 p.m. on Election Day. Poll workers then follow a closing process to gather all the votes and report to a central counting station to deliver the results. If there are voters in line at closing time, that could delay the start of this process.
As results are received in the elections department, officials update the count periodically throughout the evening and into the night until all polls have reported their results.
Ballots cast in person by voters on Election Day are tabulated relatively quickly, by machine, but even those results need to be double-checked. Mail ballots can take longer to count.
At the close of the election, all votes — including early ballots, mail-in ballots and those cast on Election Day — are closely examined. This includes provisional ballots by voters not certified before Election Day.
A non-partisan canvass board, a separate component from the elections department, reviews the votes, looking for the chain of custody on all ballots, both written and electronic, ensuring that polling judges followed all the rules.
The board also reconciles the count of voters and ballots for each precinct, making sure the total number of ballots cast equals the number of voters who cast those ballots.
All of these results are compiled into a ballot report, or canvass.
Results only become final and official after the post-election canvass is completed and elections officials attest that the results are accurate.
The certification deadline in Bexar County is Nov. 19.
In most cases, a local race can be determined on election night if the number of “vote difference” is substantially greater for one candidate, according to local elections officials.
After the last general election, the elections department completed its count at about midnight after all the results were reported and audits were completed. Even then, results were marked “unofficial.”
In some states, including the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, election officials are prohibited from counting mail ballots before Election Day.
In Bexar County, mail ballots can be counted starting Nov. 3 if the ballot board has verified the ballots.
Once the ballot board completes its work, it then hands over the eligible ballots for counting to the central count staff for tabulating by machine.
Ballots mailed to military servicemembers complicate the count of mail-in because, while they must be postmarked by Election Day, there’s a grace period of up to six days after. If cleared by the ballot board, those ballots also must be vetted and counted.
Voters who lack the required ID or their names are missing from the rolls are allowed to cast provisional ballots, and given several days after Election Day to address those problems.
Provisional ballots are researched swiftly in the elections department so that they can be presented to the ballot board when it reconvenes to process late mail and military ballots.
The San Antonio Report team of reporters and photographers will be monitoring Bexar County election results throughout election night and in the following days.
The San Antonio Report uses Associated Press data as well as Bexar County and Texas Secretary of State elections data in its results reporting. The AP follows a set protocol for naming winners in an election.
Before you go to the polls, check out the Report’s 2024 Voter Guide here.
