WASHINGTON — With early voting already underway in some states, such as Virginia, election officials in the region reminded voters on Monday about possible delays with unofficial results in 2020 due to changing voter habits.
Beginning last Friday, Virginia voters could head to polls to cast their ballots early. New this year, voters are not required to have a reason for doing so or for voting by mail.
The deadline for early voting in the state is October 31.
Already, some election offices have seen a surge in ballots.
According to Alexandria Voter Registrations & Elections, 1,047 absentee in-person ballots have been cast for Election Day this year compared to 123 at the same time in 2016.
Requests for mail ballots have also seen a big spike from 1,668 requests at this time in 2016 to around 31,000 in 2020.
For General Registrar Angie Turner, who stepped into her role in late July, seeing the voting demand this early in election season has brought busy times.
"Organized pandemonium is the best way I can say it," she said. "There’s a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, a lot of voters coming in.”
Voting sites in Washington, D.C. and Maryland may see similar activity when they open for early voting in late October.
The pandemic has forced election teams to adapt to strict guidelines for in-person voting: from needing personal protective equipment and wiping down every voting machine after use to requiring masks and limiting the size of crowds inside the voting areas.
As seen in the Alexandria numbers, this year has also brought more focus on voting by mail or absentee.
In Washington, D.C., for example, every registered voter will receive a mail-ballot and will be able to return it any day up to and including Election Day.
DC Board of Elections Executive Director Alice Miller said election officials will wait up to 10 days to receive the ballot and count it.
After over 20 years of overseeing elections, Miller told WUSA9 that the experience this year stood out from any other time.
"Our preparations for elections have had to make a major pivot from what we normally plan and how we normally do our elections," she said on Monday.
With mail-in ballots and absentee ballots coming in after Election Day, both Miller and Turner told WUSA9 that unofficial results could take even more time to process this year.
"It’s going to be an extended period of time," Miller said. "There may not be clear results from every jurisdiction on November 3.”
"Final results won’t go to the state until the Tuesday after the election and then the state has to do their certification," Turner added.
Both Turner and Miller said election night results are always unofficial, even without a pandemic happening.
However, Miller said voters should expect results to see possible swings in the days following Election Day this year.
"We just can’t tell how much of an impact, because I think it depends on how soon the ballots come in," she said. "It’s a matter of how voters choose to vote with respect to timing. It’s in the voters' hands and then on the back end it’s how fast we can get it done.”
Despite all the changes and possible delays this year, both Miller and Turner said election officials will take their time counting results and following protocols to ensure accuracy.
"We want it done right and we want it done accurately," Miller said.