On getting fast election results on election night...
We all want to know. We all want to know RIGHT NOW! So, the Secretary of State's office in each state along with the county voting officials work fast and hard to get those results out to the hungry media and the waiting audience.
On election night, though, those vote counts are not official. The voting numbers are only official when they are certified, which can be days or even weeks later. In between, numbers are checked and confirmed. In some states precincts are even audited at random. Only once everything has been checked and verified are the results certified.
In our impatience for instant knowledge, we often forget that. Then, we are surprised when the actual numbers change when the certified results are reported. We shouldn't be. Anyone who has worked at a polling place or country clerk's office during an election knows that errors happen, from someone inverting numbers to even entering numbers on the wrong candidate's line. Those things all get spotted during the certification process, but sometimes slip through in instant results reporting.
Oddly enough, nobody seems to want to report on the certified results, which can sometimes even change who wins or loses or alter the number of delegates a candidate earns. We should wait for certified results, but our impatience doesn't allow it.
Voting results almost always change from what is reported on election night. Almost always. Don't be surprised when they do. In fact, be surprised if they do not change, assuming you ever bother to look at the certified results. Most people don't.
