NORFOLK, Va. — With record numbers of absentee voters, election results could change in the days following Election Day. It will take longer for election officials to count every ballot, and that’s normal. Results are never certified on Election Day.
However, on Election Night, Virginia and North Carolina voters can expect results from in-person early voting, Election Day voting, and some absentee voting. These three categories will make up a majority of votes cast.
"The numbers from the night are not going to be the actual numbers, they’ll just be the preliminary," said Laura Kane, Virginia Beach's absentee coordinator.
Election officials in Virginia and North Carolina are allowed to pre-process absentee ballots that are received ahead of Election Day. That means thousands of absentee ballots can be quickly counted Tuesday night and added to the results.
However, it takes more time to process and count absentee ballots sent in around Election Day.
In Virginia, election officials have until 11 p.m. on Tuesday night to keep processing and counting newer absentee ballots. Then, they’ll stop and continue the process on Wednesday morning.
“We’ll still be scanning in ballots all the way up until Friday," Kane said.
If a Virginia absentee ballot is postmarked by Election Day, election officials have until Friday to receive and count it.
So, final vote counts will have to wait, and results could change.
North Carolina election officials project 97 percent of all results will be posted Tuesday night. This includes every absentee ballot sent up until Election Day, as well as all in-person voting.
If a North Carolina absentee ballot is postmarked by Election Day, election officials have until November 12 to receive and count it.
Virginia leaders say voters should consider it an "Election Week" -- not an Election Day -- and understand that the process to count every vote takes time.
“Virginians should expect that the results could change in the days after the elections, results on election night have always been unofficial," said Keyanna Conner, Virginia Secretary of Administration
Even though Virginia and North Carolina allow the pre-processing of some absentee ballots for a quicker count, other states don’t. Results could be more delayed in those states, where election workers must wait until Election Day to start counting all absentee ballots.