Elections officials hope to have their first count of absentee ballots by 11 p.m., four hours after polls close in the state.
“The department of elections gave localities a cut-off time of 11 p.m. to stop counting ballots,” said Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Chris Piper.
Elections officials will resume counting those ballots on Wednesday. About 2.7 million absentee ballots were returned, and about 1.9 million of them were from people who voted absentee in-person. A total of 47% of the state’s registered voters cast their ballots early this year.
All mail-in voting and early in-person voting will be reported in each locality’s central absentee precinct.
Precincts will begin repeating results as they come in, however, the final results won’t be finalized until Tuesday, November 10. The state’s Electoral Board will meet to certify the results on Monday, November 16.
There have been very few issues to report today at the polls, said Piper. Long lines have not been an issue thanks to early voting he added.
Prince William County reported at voting machines at two polling places in the county. They were repaired by noon, and voting continued despite the issue.
In Caroline County today, near Fredericksburg, rapper Kanye West was still on the ballot despite a court order to have him removed from the ballot. Piper told reporters today that ballots printed with West’s name on it did not have to be destroyed.
