On Super Tuesday, Don't Expect Quick Election Results From The West

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On Super Tuesday, 14 states including California, Colorado and Utah will all cast ballots. The western states increasingly rely on mail-in ballots that often take longer to count. More than 60% of California voters cast absentee ballots in 2018 and it took weeks to call some races in California and Arizona that year.

In multiple counties in another Super Tuesday state, Texas, voters will be casting ballots on brand-new equipment for the first time, which could also lead to slow results and late-night snafus.

"In person on Election Day, probably half the country will vote differently this time," Kathleen Hale, director of the Institute for Election Administration Research and Practice at Auburn University said. "And the reason for that is that we've done a number of things to make voting easier and more convenient for people. Those conveniences have a sort of a backside cost."

That cost? It takes longer to count the vote. In California, for example, vote-by-mail ballots don't have to reach county elections officials until three days after the election, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day.

In 2018, it took weeks for some races to be decided in California.

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/01/809941998/on-super-tuesday-dont-expect-quick-election-results-from-the-west