How does Colorado’s voting process impact the timing of election results?
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Political analysts predict Coloradans will likely know preliminary election results the night of the election or the following day. But questions and concerns loom about how long it will take states to process ballots and election results.
The analysts largely base their predictions on Colorado's ballot processing system. In Colorado, election officials are allowed to process ballots 15 days before the election. This method gives Coloradans an advantage to learning election results faster, according to political analyst Josh Dunn.
Other states, including some key swing states in the 2020 election, aren't legally able to process ballots until after polls open on election day.
The Denver County clerk said that because counting starts well before election night, election officials can start posting unofficial results pretty quickly after the polls close on election night.
"7 o'clock, you can see those results, and we will update through the night, every 90 minutes," Paul Lopez said.
But the same can't be said for every state, some of which are not as familiar with the process of mail-in voting.
A map created with information from the National Conference of State Legislatures breaks down each state's ballot processing rules. The map shows Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two swing states in the 2020 presidential election, can't begin processing ballots until election day. The rules mean it's unlikely officials in those states will be able to count enough ballots to get a clear idea of the results on November 3.
Political analysts believe there are other issues that will delay results too.
"Some of the states, the standard of actually counting the ballot is going to be the date that it's postmarked. Here in Colorado, you have to have your ballot in by election day," Josh Dunn said.
Experts say it's unclear when the country may know who wins the presidential election with potential legal challenges and recounts.
"I wouldn't put any money on any firm deadline on it all being resolved," Dunn said.
Use the interactive map below to see voting guidelines for each state:
