[EL] The timetable of reporting results on or after Election Day

[Samuel S. Wang]

Dear Election Law List,

The timetable of reporting results on Election Night may lead to substantial public unrest. In a recent NBC/WSJ survey, in-person voters break heavily toward Trump, while mail voters break heavily toward Biden.

What do we know about the planned timetables of reporting results in all the states?  This timetable may dramatically affect what the public sees on Election Night. If one candidate is ahead on Election Night, and the other pulls ahead in the days following, major protests might ensue.

For example, my understanding in North Carolina is that if a mail-in ballot arrives in the local elections office by 5:00 pm on Monday, November 2, the day before Election Day, it goes through the board approval process and through the tabulator, and will count in the unofficial election results released on November 3, Election Day. That approach could reduce any massive swings in the vote count.

Another solution would be to advocate for a deliberate and unhurried report of final or near-final totals. For example, in the April primary and state judicial elections, Wisconsin officials did not release results until something like a week after the election. That strikes me as a sensible and de-escalating move.

Sam Wang


>>>

Prof. Samuel S.-H. Wang

Neuroscience Institute, Washington Road

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ 08544

Virtual office: http://princeton.zoom.us/my/samwang



Neuroscience: synapse.princeton.edu

Elections: election.princeton.edu

Redistricting: gerrymander.princeton.edu


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