Election officials are on the frontlines of our democracy. These individuals have spent countless hours planning and coordinating our upcoming elections amidst a truly historic set of challenges. They serve our voters amidst a global pandemic, mounting cybersecurity concerns, all while battling increasing disinformation campaigns. Though a small tribute, we hope this video will let them know that they are appreciated and that they have supporters encouraging them as November nears.
In 2020 election administrators in the midst of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan requested permission to be able to pre-process their state’s mail-in ballots to get them ready to count on November 3, 2020. However, Republican legislatures said No.
Pre-processing mail-in ballots in the time of this pandemic would be a good thing.
Presidential battleground states
Currently, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — two critical swing states — do not begin pre-processing ballots until Election Day, meaning they may take longer to have results.
Michigan, another important state, begins pre-processing just 10 hours before Election Day. Florida, by contrast, allows ballots to begin to be pre-processed 40 days before Election Day.
How Quickly will your absentee vote be counted? A state-by-state timeline
| The New York Times by nick corasaniti and denise lu
So why did Republican state legislatures tie the hands of election officials in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and prevent them from pre-processing their mail-in ballots?
What is Preprocessing Mail-In Ballots?
When election officials receive a mail-in or absentee ballot, the ballot may need to have the signature checked and the envelope needs to be carefully opened and the ballot flattened out ready to count. The mail-in ballot is put in a special batch to get ready to be counted when state law allows it. Allowing election officials to legally pre-process ballots enables the election system to work more efficiently and effectively so election results are reported faster.
However, Republicans stopped this pre-processing of mail-in ballots in key battleground states forcing election workers to have to process the mail ballots in PA, WI and MI on election day. That’s why the vote count is taking longer in those states. Some states had hundreds of thousands and even millions of mail-in ballots to count only beginning on November 3, 2020 even though they received them weeks ago!
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