Poll: Most Voters Say Counting All Ballots Outweighs Getting Fast Results — But Not Trump Supporters

Topline

Seven in 10 registered voters want officials to count every mail-in ballot this year even if that delays the reporting of election results, but most of President Donald Trump’s supporters disagree, according to a new poll released Monday as Trump and his allies demand a speedy determination of the winner of the presidential election despite a surge in mail-in ballots and pleas for patience from local officials.

Key Facts

Big Number

22%. That’s the share of voters who expect to know the results of the election on Election Night itself this year, according to YouGov. By comparison, 24% believe they’ll know the winner within a day or two, and 26% think it could take up to a week.

Tangent

Even if most voters say they’re prepared to be patient this year, it’s unclear how long they’re willing to wait. In a Pew Research Center poll from last month, 52% of voters said it is very important to know the results within a day or two, but some experts believe it could take far longer if the race comes down to mail-in ballots in slow-counting states like Pennsylvania.

Key Background

Officials are bracing for a night of unusually slow vote tallies due to an uptick in mail-in voting and delays at the U.S. Postal Service. Still, Trump is insisting that vote-counting wrap up on Election Night itself, deeming any votes counted afterwards to be somehow illegitimate. The president is reportedly thinking about declaring victory prematurely if he appears to be ahead Tuesday night, and he is considering legal challenges to halt the processing of late mail-in votes in any states whose counts are lagging behind. This zeal to report results as quickly as possible is unprecedented and legally unfounded: officials in most states have more than a week to count votes, and the pageantry of Election Night victories is a recent phenomenon created by unofficial projections by television news outlets.

What To Watch For

Individual states will vary widely in the race to count ballots. Pennsylvania could take days to process its mail-in votes, whereas Florida has already begun counting and could report tallies within hours. Some states will accept mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day due to local laws or court orders, meaning a wave of new results could come in days later.

Further Reading

All votes must be counted, even if it delays election result, say voters (YouGov)

Deep Divisions in Views of the Election Process – and Whether It Will Be Clear Who Won (Pew)

When To Expect Election Results In Every State (FiveThirtyEight)