How do the "already voted" votes get counted?

[mgcgulfcoast]

for instance, lets say the polls have just closed in ohio on election night and the first results are coming in. do the already voted get reported right away?

[graham4anything]

1. That is the question I have been asking

different rules for different states

some will be there at the start of the count after polls close
some will be added later
some maybe not til the late late evening

no one seems to know this answer, we should have a thread with the swing states and how this state by state

[mgcgulfcoast]

2. i agree. my worry is repukes will do something dirty

in the states they control like ohio and florida. does anyone know how these votes are actually counted?

[graham4anything]

3. what worries me is perception on election night if the first votes are just that days

and the early don't show up til later

if Obama is leading major time in early votes, it goes to say that the voters on electoin day will not be the same %

we need to be vigiliant

I also hope on election night (unlike on debate nights) DU remains open to everyone even if there are a mega amount of people attempting to get in.

[mgcgulfcoast]

4. i wish someone knows how they are counted.

[Maeve]

5. For the most part, yes, the early votes are the first you'll see

And I say this from my experience watching results get reported in Ohio over the years. Different states may vary and they may wait to release until other tallies come in.

[mgcgulfcoast]

6. thanks

so expect a big obama lead early?

[Maeve]

7. Probably. However, some media may hold back reporting to keep the viewers watching

Not sure they can still get away with that--too many outlets now.

[CTyankee]

8. I assumed it was exit polling. Did anybody else think that, too?

[mgcgulfcoast]

15. will exit polls be screwed up

i assume when exit polling is done in ohio they wont be exit polling people who already voted.

[CTyankee]

16. well, if they've already voted they can't be "exit polled" on Election Day. They won't be there.

I was wondering if they were exit polled when they did their early voting.

[lunatica]

9. In California the mail in votes can been counted early, but results are not made public

until election day. But all the votes are counted here regardless, on and after election day no matter what the outcome is without them.

The mail in votes have to be checked for signatures on the outside of the envelope. They have to match your signature with the one they have when you registered to vote so they do this as they come in the mail. The ballots come with very clear instructions on how to send them back in the enclosed envelope. then the ballots are taken out and put together and the envelopes discarded in order to keep the ballots secret.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. And while we're at it, how do they count in current polling?

For example, if early voting heavily favors Obama, are these voters being excluding in polls that ask, "who are you going to vote for?"

[davidn3600]

11. The actual votes are not being counted yet

The numbers are based on the party ID of the voters showing up.

So it might not be entirely accurate to call it Obama vs Romney. It's more accurate to call it Republicans vs Democrats.

These early voting numbers do NOT take cross-voting and split-tickets into account. (Cross vote is when a Dem votes Rep or vice versa....a split-ticket would be like voting Obama for President and then vote a Republican for Senator).

So you got to be a little careful here because that's not entirely uncommon for people to do that, especially in presidential elections. Some states are weird with that.

[Jersey Devil]

12. They are not supposed to count votes until Election Day - but I have seen otherwise

I have obtained absentee results and actual counts before the polls close on election day several times when I was involved in local campaigns. All it takes is a contact in the board of elections with a cell phone. They count them during the day while the polls are still open and they have nothing to do and then release the results publicly after the polls close. My experience is that they usually mirror what happens at the polls on election day.

[courseofhistory]

13. I was polled in Colorado on early voting

and I assume that is one big way they find out. I voted early and answered the questions in the poll.

[davidpdx]

14. I believe in Oregon (which is vote by mail)

The signatures are verified as they come in, but not counted until election day. So the first numbers that come in will be what they have counted at the time the "polls" close. I have no doubt though that as soon as 8pm PST (11pm EST) hits Oregon will be projected for Obama immediately.