Will mail-in voting turn Election Day into Election Week?

A shift to mail voting is increasing the chances that Americans will not know the winner of November’s presidential race on election night.

State election officials in some key battleground states have recently warned that it may take days to count what they expect will be a surge of ballots sent by mail out of concern for safety amid the pandemic.

In an election as close as 2016’s, a delayed tally in key states could keep news organizations from calling a winner.

“It may be several days before we know the outcome of the election,” said Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state.

Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, pleaded for “patience” from the public. “Election night reporting may take a little longer” this year, LaRose said Wednesday at a forum on voting hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Delayed results are common in a few states where elections are already conducted largely by mail. But a presidential election hasn’t been been left in limbo since 2000, when ballot irregularities in Florida led to weeks of chaos and court fights.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3caWuvE