Election Day is over, but voters are still waiting for official results. This is a normal part of the process, and it can take days-or even weeks-before everything is completed and certified.
After polls close, election officials count ballots and electronic vote records. The data is then securely transferred to election offices and made public. News outlets may use these numbers to predict the outcome of a race, which is known as making a call. The prediction is based on the analysis of the data available at that time. This is done to help voters understand the process and give them confidence in the results.
As the count continues, media outlets update their predictions based on new data as it becomes available. Each media outlet has teams of analysts that work through the night and into the days after the election to make their projections. The analysis is based on a combination of factors including the results from precincts that have already reported, the early in-person and mail ballots not yet received, patterns from previous elections, and the predictions from other sources. This information is used to update an election reporting system that is unique to each news outlet and compares data from multiple sources to ensure accuracy.
Then, the state’s elected election officials review and verify all the informal results that are reported on Election Night. They also add any outstanding ballots deemed eligible for counting (such as provisional ballots that are verified by the voter or mail ballots that are received after Election Day but before the state’s deadline). Finally, they complete their canvass to certify official election results.
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