Why Are The 2020 Election Results Delayed?

As a record amount of votes are piling in throughout America, Former Vice President Biden and President Trump have been battling for electoral college votes since Election Day. Yet, Americans have not received a final result on who will be the President of the US. Individuals can’t help but wonder: why are the final results of this election so delayed? 

In order to fully understand the process of this election, it is important to understand how voting works in the United States. Whether it’s early or on Election Day, Americans cast their votes through several different methods like in-person polls or mail-in ballots. Within most states, votes are tallied, and whichever candidate receives the most gains all of the electoral votes of that state. In Texas, a candidate can gain 38 electoral votes.

Within this election, the US continues to battle COVID-19, while gaining an influx of many voters: a generation of young voters who are now eligible to vote, Americans who’ve perceived the importance of a presidential election, and many more. 

Through these circumstances, the US has seen a major jump in the number of voters who’ve voted, especially through mail-in ballots. There’s been almost a 240% increase in requests for mail-in ballots and 103% increase in mail-in and early in-person ballots returned from the previous election to now (NBC) . 

Yet, this also means that states are left with the job to count an immense number of mail-in ballots compared to the 2016 election. Other factors also weigh in on the time it takes to count each vote, like the amount of absentee ballots, the preparation of ballots to count them (before the counting starts), and when exactly a state starts counting ballots.

Each state has a different process in counting ballots. For instance, in Texas, some counties were allowed to process ballots about 12 days before Election Day, whereas some counties were allowed to start on the last day of early voting (October 30).

Circumstances as such have led to states being unable to count each vote in time, causing a delay in definite results of the presidential election. 

During this election, we’ve seen many new situations arise, with multiple states still counting each and every vote past Election Day. In the end, it’s important to remember that each and every person’s vote counts.

For more information on how votes are counted in Texas, click here.

To stay up-to-date with election results, click here.