WASHINGTON — Millions of people have already voted in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, so just how long will it take to get the results? Local elections officials say, at this point, it is still a bit hard to give a definitive answer.
First, just because so many ballots have already been submitted does not mean voters should expect to see results earlier than normal.
No jurisdiction in the Washington viewing area releases results before polls close on Election Day.
Dr. Gilberto Zelaya, public information officer for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said there is a simple reason for that practice.
"We don't release prematurely, because we don't want to affect that voter who has yet to vote," he said.
Maryland started counting early voters’ ballots on Oct. 1.
However, in D.C., Virginia and West Virginia, that process will not start until polls close.
“Some of those lines at the voting centers might be a little long,” Nick Jacobs, public information officer with the D.C. Board of Elections, said. “And, it'll take a little bit of time to get through them. It will stagger how long it will take to get that in-person ballot data back to [Board of Elections] for processing.”
Both Montgomery County and D.C. officials said they expect to tabulate and release results for early vote ballots first before transitioning into ballots that were submitted the day of the election.
The two jurisdictions also say they expect their final vote tallies not to be determined until late November.
However, many people will still be interested to see projections of who wins certain races on Election Day.
Edison Research, a firm that helps TV networks come up with projections, said even if other states fall behind in their counting, projections could still possibly be made.
"That does not necessarily mean that we cannot project the winner in those states, depending on what information we have,” Larry Rosin, president of Edison Research, said.
Both Zelaya and Jacobs ask for voters’ patience on the behalf of polls workers. They say a lot of work has gone into making sure the elections process runs smoothly.
“This is the Montgomery County Board of Elections, not Amazon Prime,” Zelaya said. “It doesn't take two days. So please be patient with us. We have been working on behalf of your right to vote. It's our job to secure said constitutional right and it's not about speed my friends, it’s about accuracy.”