Mail in ballots are a mess

[Jamesyu]

Hopefully they retract some race calls if it turns VBM screwed us.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. What?

[progree]

7. I'm guessing "VBM" means "Vote By Mail", but I don't quite get the rest

and yes, if mail-in ballots changes the result for a "called" state, then well, the state has changed and that the networks called it doesn't mean a hill of beans.

[malaise]

2. Be gone

[TigressDem]

3. WHY couldn't those ballots received early be counted as they came in?

IF ballots came in early and were counted as they came, it would solve part of the problem, don't you think?

[sweetloukillbot]

4. Because state laws said they couldn't be counted nt

[TigressDem]

6. Yeah. Because it would spoil the surprise?

I guess they think people might give up if they think their vote wouldn't matter.

[sweetloukillbot]

11. They count in Florida and Arizona, but don't report till polls close

I think they tried to change the law in PA, but Republicans blocked it.

[TigressDem]

16. Figures. If it makes sense and works, no way rethugs would allow it. nt

[onetexan]

5. Depends on the state

Some states have rules where votes cant be counted till election day.

[TigressDem]

8. Does that really make sense, though?

I mean they could not ANNOUNCE the numbers, just have them securely recorded so that it makes the process more streamlined.

I hope states revisit this topic and make some changes.

[onetexan]

12. I dont know the answer to that so cant tell u the rationale

Behind the decision. But election laws are at the state level. As they say, all politics is local.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. In my state they start feeding the absentee ballots into the tabulators

before election day; they aren't technically counted until they are added up by the machines, but they are in the machines all ready to be tallied. So when the polls close on election day they basically push a button and the tabulators add up all those votes so they can be added to the same-day totals. It isn't rocket science; I don't know why some states feel it's necessary to even start processing the ballots until the polls close.

[TigressDem]

17. That is awesome!

[Mossfern]

9. Do those states lean red?

[Princess Turandot]

18. No. New York was previously one of them..

I believe that existing laws here delayed even the opening of mail ballots for the primary until after that election date.

For the general, Cuomo managed to change that. Four days after I mailed mine in mid-October, it was verified and accepted per the state's new internet tracking system.

The main 'problem' with VBM this time around was that many states expanded their eligibility requirements to use it because of the pandemic. The votes received this way suddenly were greater in number and more important. Truthfully, a day or two delay in processing is not exactly a calamity. Folks are just understandably anxious and impatient.

[gab13by13]

13. Yes, you are right,

Pa. may have a Democratic governor but Republicans control the legislature and Pa. was not allowed to count mail in votes until after the in person voting was over. There are like 6 counties that I believe aren't even going to count them until today.

Pa. wasn't even allowed to sort the mail in ballots to get them ready to be counted.

[PubliusEnigma]

10. They worked fine in Florida because they started counting them early.

It's not rocket science.

[gab13by13]

14. Tell that to the Republican controlled legislature in Pa.

They made it harder to count mail in ballots for a sinister reason.