What to Expect on Election Day

From Dennis Trainor, CWA District 1 VP. Election Day 2020 is upon us, and I wanted to take a moment to make sure you have a sense of what Election Day - and the days after - may look like this year.

It’s very likely that we will not know the outcomes of many races by the end of the day on November 3rd or even the morning of the 4th, including President. And that’s okay.

Why won’t we know who won on Election Night?

It’s normal for states to take a few days to finish counting all votes, and this year the vote count will likely take longer than normal because we’re expecting record numbers of mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 93.3 million early votes have already been cast, including 59.3 million mail ballots - almost double the 33 million mail ballots cast in 2016.

Each state sets their own rules for when mail-ballots are accepted, and for when those ballots can be counted.

• At least 18 states accept mail-in ballots for several days after Election Day (provided they’re postmarked by November 3rd).

• Several key battleground states won’t begin counting their mail-in ballots until November 3rd.

For example, in Pennsylvania, over 2 million mail-in ballots have already been received, but election workers are prohibited from starting to count those ballots until November 3rd. It may take several days to know the outcome of the vote there, which could impact the overall Presidential race tally.

With so much at stake in this election, it’s important that we’re patient while election officials carefully count every ballot instead of rushing to declare a winner. Ensuring that each and every vote is counted is part of our democratic process, and taking the time we need to get it right just means that our democracy is working.

I urge you to keep in mind that we should be thinking about “Election Week,” not Election Night, and that it may take a few more days - or even longer - for us to know all of the race outcomes.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard throughout this election season to get out the vote for pro-worker candidates, and to everyone who has taken the time to vote already! If you haven’t yet gone to the polls or sent in your mail-in ballot, please make sure you have your plan to vote on Tuesday or drop off your mail-in ballot (we recommend NOT putting it in the mail at this point, as it may not get in on time). Visit cwa.org/vote to find your polling place and make your voting plan.