
<p>Understandably, these dragged-out vote counts – especially when they reverse the trend – provide fuel for the conspiratorial types. ; For some folks, it undermines their trust in the system. ; It creates more time for suspicions and controversy to flourish – as we are already seeing.</p>



<p>This commentary is not intended to put more fuel on the darker suspicions and claims. ; Nothing we have seen so far suggests any large-scale cheating – although there always is a modest level of election shenanigans.</p>



<p>This commentary is merely to ask the question: What takes so long? ; At the time of this writing, there are still approximately 20 house races declared to be “too close to call.” ; There are hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be counted.</p>



<p>In past elections, we would have cliffhangers in which the results were not known for days or weeks. But they were almost always a matter of counts … recounts … and court challenges. ; Today’s delay, however, is some inexplicable inability to simply count the ballots.</p>



<p>Part of the problem is due to the growth in early and mail-in balloting – and differing laws in different states. ; In some states, election officials are not allowed to even certify the early or mail-in ballots until the close of the polls on election day. ; Many mail-in ballots will be received after Election Day – but as long as they are postmarked before midnight, they must be counted.</p>



<p>While the number of ballots cast across the nation is enormous, the counting is done at thousands of precincts – with tens of thousands of workers. ; Rarely would a precinct have to count more than 2000 to 3000 ballots – some even less.</p>



<p>Over the years, I have worked in dozens of such precincts on Election Day – even as we shifted from paper ballots (some very long) to be hand counted … to machines … to punch cards … to now paper ballots tabulated by scanners. ; Large batches of ballots are being scanned by machines running at blurring speeds.</p>



<p>It seems that as we reformed and changed the voting systems, the longer it is taking to reach the final count. ; Even with those long hand-counted ballots in days of yore, we knew almost all the winners and losers before bedtime.</p>



<p>With all the folks doing the initial counting – and all those high-tech machines whirling at a dizzying rate of speed, what takes so long? ; I do not know that answer … but I do know that it does not have to be so slow.</p>



<p>Results can be challenged and recounted, but there is no reason we should not have the results in Arizona and Nevada – and virtually all those pending House races – within 6 to 24 hours.</p>



<p>How can the ballots be counted more quickly? ; First … ALL ballots should be in the hands of the respective precinct works by the close of the polls. ; That includes, early votes and mail-ins. ; Most places have a close-off date for early voting, we should have the same for mail-in ballots –any ballot not received by the close of the polls on election day does not count.</p>



<p>While the ballots would not be read until after the close of the polls, they can be certified as proper against the registered voter list ahead of time. ; As I would propose, all ballots to be counted would be in the precinct by the close of the polls. ; It would only take a few hours to get the count – even with election watchers making challenges to questionable ballots before they are entered into the tabulator</p>



<p>With modern technology, I see no reason for these long delays that frustrate candidates and the public alike – and lead to needless speculations.</p>



<p>So. There ‘tis.</p>

Why the slow vote count?
