Early voting ends in DMV, it could take days before final results are confirmed

WASHINGTON (7News) — Early voting at the DMV has ended and now the polls will open on Election Day in about 24 hours.

A big question that many people have is when they will know who will win. 7News On Your Side investigates how long it will take to count the votes.

Four years ago, record numbers of mail-in and early ballots due to the pandemic caused a major delay in counting votes and reporting election results. The final figures had not been received for days.

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Election officials believe there’s a chance we won’t know the outcome of the presidential race — and possibly even control of Congress — on election night. According to the Associated Press, Virginia is counting votes faster than many other states. In 2020, approximately 71% of the total votes cast had been reported by midnight.

In Maryland, history shows that counting is incredibly slow. In 2020, approximately 8% of the total votes cast had been reported by midnight. Last year, a new law was passed to speed up the preprocessing of ballots, so that could make a difference.

And finally, a large percentage of voters in the District of Columbia cast ballots by mail.

Ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if they are received by November 11. In 2020, about 55 percent of the total votes cast were reported before midnight.

Polls close at 8 p.m. in Maryland and DC and an hour earlier in Virginia.

The recent elections have been marred by conspiracy theories, misinformation and violent attacks. Trust has become a major concern.

Election officials in at least four states have reported ballots damaged or compromised in the past week. More than ever, voters in the DMV want to track ballots.

At least 33 states and counties have a ballot recovery process that requires officials to immediately notify voters that their ballot is being rejected.

If there is a problem with a mail-in ballot in the precinct, the voter will receive a letter specifying the problem. The voter can sign the certificate attached to the initial letter, which can be returned by post or email.

The voter has a maximum of seven days to complete the ballot. In Virginia, within three days of determining that a ballot is incomplete or incorrect, the registrar will notify the voter in writing or by email of the error or failure and provide information on how to correct the matter.

A clerk in Maryland will notify the voter of the rejection as soon as possible and, if there is enough time, send a new ballot if the original ballot is received in the mail, or attempt to contact the voter.

There is an interactive map on the Stem.org website with links to each state’s online services and county election offices.

You can check your status here.