BREAKING: Arizona will announce results of all pre-Election Day mail-in ballots at close of polls

[brooklynite]

(8 PM Mountain time)

per MSNBC.

[Sherman A1]

1. Cool!

Good News.

[honest.abe]

2. Beautiful!

I have a feeling Nov 3 is going to be a night to remember!

[MissB]

3. That's the way it should be.

So yay.

[Skraxx]

4. If Biden Wins AZ, it's Over

[still_one]

6. Unfortunately that isn't the case

[coti]

13. Not quite, but AZ is very important to Biden

to establish the cushion that won't allow Trump to even attempt to claim that he won.

[PubliusEnigma]

5. When Biden wins Arizona, it will be over.

[Sneederbunk]

7. Hopefully it will be over before 10 PM EST.

[Laelth]

8. Excellent.

Arizona’s results should put a nail in Trump’s coffin at about 10 PM Eastern on Nov. 3. I am looking forward to it.

-Laelth

[Johnny2X2X]

9. I think the media is missing the mark on mail in ballots

It varies from state to state, but they have painted this picture that mail in ballots get counted last. The do not, in fact this year in most states they will get counted first. They will be opened up and organized into precincts before the day of here in MI, then as soon as the polls open in MI the counting begins. So they'll be counting the absentee ballots as soon as the first day of vote is cast. If they're organized very well they could process the bulk of them before they get to their first batch of same day ballots.

Now if the state accepts ballots after the day f, those could take longer obviously, but I'd expect 95% of absentee ballots to be counted the night of the election or early the next morning.

[qazplm135]

10. In some states yes

In some states no.

PA and MI Sec of State have both repeatedly said they cannot count all ballots in time. That's why they've asked to start earlier.
WI too.

Are they "the media?" Are they lying?

There's a reason Republicans in those states are blocking the needed legislation.

It may ultimately not matter if Trump wins in places like FL or NC or AZ where they start counting earlier, but if he doesn't then yes it may matter.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. Republicans in Michigan actually passed a bill to help

All mail in ballots have their signatures verified and accepted upon receipt. They are organized into precinct. The day before, all ballots can be removed from their envelopes and be ready to be counted. This saves several hours. So the morning of they start getting counted immediately. We're not going to have some big waiting game unless it i truly a razor close election.

[qazplm135]

12. Other states aren't though

So the ultimate answer is, it depends, not "the media."

[Johnny2X2X]

18. Here's the rules each state has

Some of them have changed a little for the better in recent weeks, but there's no huge glaring issues in the swing states. Absentee ballots will be counted before or right along with same day ballots in all swing states.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-16-when-absentee-mail-ballot-processing-and-counting-can-begin.aspx

[qazplm135]

19. Right

I should ignore the literal head of PA voting who says no, we won't be done. I should ignore the efforts in multiple states from elected and appointed election officials labeling this an issue.

Absentee ballots are not as easy to count as regular ballots. So saying "they will be counted right alongside" does not equate to, they will be counted as quickly. That's WHY some states start counting them EARLY.

Clearly you seem to need to be invested in the idea that no state will have an issue counting all ballots on election night. I have no idea why. Clearly, you are wrong. Whether that "matters" will depend on which states Biden wins, or how large the overall margins are.

[Retrograde]

17. The media are largely east coast based

and they think the way they do things there is the way every one does them. That's why they're acting like mass mail voting is something new, despite western states having done it with few problems for years.

They seem to have convinced themselves - and told their viewers - that absentee ballots are never even opened until the polls close (at least I haven't heard the other canard, that absentee votes aren't even counted unless a race is close, this time around).

Speaking only for California, mail-in ballots get some preliminary processing as they're received, namely, signature verification. This lets the counties start opening envelopes and processing votes when the polls open on election day. Valid ballots can arrive after the polls close, as long as they're post-marked in time. Provisional ballots and damaged ballots are processed after election day. That's why my state doesn't certify an election for several weeks. Aside from more people voting early or by mail there really isn't anything different about this election (well, GOP attempts at disruption are getting more blatant). But they need to sell the horserace.

[onetexan]

14. Every state should do this.

[jpljr77]

15. Florida does the same thing. We're going to know a lot about how this thing is looking at about

9 p.m. ET due to Florida and North Carolina, because Pennsylvania is going to be delayed.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. I believe most states will be counting mail in ballots

well before close of polls on November 3rd. My own state, New Mexico, is already counting mailed-in and early ballots, and those numbers will also be the first ones released that evening.