By Jackie Killings, President of the League of Women Voters of Georgia
This is an installment in the League of Women Voters of Georgia’s “How Georgia Votes” series. To read previous installments in the “How Georgia Votes” series, follow this link.
Election night can feel like a finish line. The polls close, the first numbers appear, and it is tempting to expect a final answer before bed. But in Georgia, as in every state, the numbers you see on election night are early and unofficial, and the days that follow are when the careful work happens. In this week’s “How Georgia Votes,” the last piece before Election Day, I want to explain why results take time, and why that time is a feature of the process rather than a flaw.
What you see on election night. The totals reported on the evening of November 3 are preliminary. They reflect the ballots counted so far, and they can shift as more are added. This is normal. A result that is not final at midnight is simply a result still being completed.
What is happening in the days after. Several things, all of them required and all of them protective. Absentee ballots and any provisional ballots must be reviewed and verified before they are added. Each county canvasses its returns to account for every ballot and then certifies its results, which Georgia law requires no later than 5 p.m. on the Monday after the election. Before the results become final, Georgia also conducts the Risk Limiting Audit I wrote about a few weeks ago, checking a sample of the paper ballots against the machine totals. Only after that does the Secretary of State certify the official statewide results, by a deadline set seventeen days after the election. Georgia law builds in these days on purpose, because getting it right matters more than getting it fast.
And in the closest races, there is one more step. As my prior writing explained, a race decided by one-half of one percent or less can go to a recount before the statewide results are finalized. For the highest state offices at the top of the ballot, that recount is now automatic. In other close contests, a candidate may request one. A recount adds a few more days, and it draws on the same paper ballots voters marked and reviewed, which is exactly why Georgia keeps them.
And if no one wins outright. Georgia requires a candidate to win a majority, meaning more than fifty percent of the vote. If no candidate clears that bar in a race this November, that race goes to a runoff, which would be held December 1. A runoff is simply how Georgia resolves a contest when the field was crowded and no one won a majority the first time.
So this year, give the process room to work. If results are not final on election night, that is the system doing exactly what it is built to do, which is counting every eligible ballot, checking the count against paper, and certifying only when the work is complete. Patience here is a sign of confidence in a process built to be right.
This series has walked from registration all the way to the final, certified result. Thank you for following along. The most important step now is yours. Make your plan, know your dates, and vote.
Jackie Killings is president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia, a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and never supports or opposes any candidate or political party. Learn more at https://lwvga.org and https://Vote411.org.
Monica Granderson is the President of the League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb County. To see information about activities of the local league, along with Cobb-specific voting and elections information, visit https://lwvmariettacobbga.com.