11/04/2020 2:04
Clarín.com
World
Updated 11/04/2020 2:04 AM
There is a good chance that it is not known who won the US presidential election on the same day,
or even the next
.
The main reason?
Many states made voting by mail easier amid the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about crowds at voting centers.
But generally, mail-in ballots take longer to process than in-person ballots.
1. Different postures
Some states with long experience using vote-by-mail have made adjustments for those additional steps.
In Florida, poll workers can start counting ballots 22 days before the polls.
In North Carolina, starting five weeks before the election, county boards insert approved ballots into voting machines, allowing for quick tabulation on election day.
But other entities such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all with Republican-majority legislatures and all without a clear political bent,
made the conscious decision to wait and not count mail-in ballots before Election Day
.
As a result, it could take several days to scrutinize enough ballots to project a winner.
The push and pull in the states over the use of ballots by mail comes as President Donald Trump accuses the voting-by-mail process is rife with fraudulent practices.
2. The deadlines
There's also another twist that could delay the process of identifying the winner:
In some key states, mail-in ballots can be accepted several days after Election Day
and still count, provided they are postmarked no later than Election Day.
Democrats have argued that the large number of absentee votes and the slowness of the postal service in some areas make such precautions necessary.
For example, mail-in ballots in Nevada do not expire until November 10 as long as they have been stamped by Election Day.
In North Carolina, the deadline is November 12.
3. There will be challenges
Polls indicate that the majority of Trump supporters plan to vote on Election Day,
while more than half of Joe Biden's supporters had planned to vote by mail
.
The Trump campaign legal team is expected to challenge the validity of many mail-in ballots filed in contested states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"We will have a substantial contingent of attorneys who will be ready to repel any ruse Democrats try," said Tim Murtaugh, Trump's campaign communications director.
4. Premature signs
Although the election result is unlikely to be known Tuesday night,
the results of two states could dictate the course of the contest.
Both Florida and Georgia allow election authorities to begin processing ballots weeks before voting day, allowing the count to go much faster.
The deadline to declare winners in both entities will probably not be much different than in past elections, unless the races are defined by too narrow a margin to declare a winner.
If Biden wins either of those two states, the chances of a Trump victory will be severely hurt.
The same is true in North Carolina.
Look also
Elections in the United States: 10 reasons why Donald Trump seems to be tilting the balance in his favor
Elections in the US: a deeply divided country that must look to the future
