The false claim
Influencers and social media users have falsely claimed that voter fraud is the reason it took days to count all votes and decide the winner in the 2020 election, and that it could again in 2024.
Why it is false
It’s true that most elections in modern U.S. history have been called on election night or the next day, with some exceptions. In 2000, it took more than a month to determine a winner because of a closely fought race that came down to a recount in Florida, which also involved disputed ballots. In 2020, it took four days to determine that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had defeated the incumbent, President Donald J. Trump. A surge in mail-in voting and closely fought races in several swing states has meant that more votes must be counted before experts can call the race.
This election may play out similarly to 2020 because:
There is more mail voting and early voting compared with elections before 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic in the 2020 election upended voting patterns for many Americans. So far this year, there are signs that those changes have persisted, with more people voting early and by mail than in previous elections.
Most state legislatures prevent counting ballots before Election Day — or even preparing to count them. In Pennsylvania, many voters submit their ballots by mail, but state law prevents election officials from taking steps like verifying signatures and opening envelopes before Election Day. In 2020, it took Pennsylvania four days to determine that Mr. Biden had won the state.
Polling also indicates this could be one of the closest elections in history, with the candidates effectively tied across the key battlegrounds. The final result could come down to a few thousand votes in a few swing states, meaning it could be difficult to call the winner in some states before nearly all votes are counted.
There are other quirks too. For example, the ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous region, are spread across two pages this year, requiring election officials to process roughly twice as many pieces of paper compared with 2020. Election officials there said it could take 10 to 13 days to count all the ballots.
How the falsehoods are being used
In 2020, many Republicans went to sleep when Mr. Trump was leading in votes that had been counted so far. When they woke up the next morning, more mail ballots had been counted and Mr. Biden had an edge. Stunned by the turn of events, some turned to voter fraud conspiracy theories to explain the difference.
In reality, the change was the result of decisions by state legislatures over when to count and release votes from different sources. In the past, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to use mail-in ballots, meaning their votes were often counted toward the end. There are signs from early voting that this is changing as more Republicans have embraced early voting and mail-in voting compared with previous elections.
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The post No, counting votes for several days is not a sign of fraud. appeared first on New York Times.
