U.S. mid-term elections: How officials are facing the heat

Americans vote tomorrow, November 3, to elect the Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. While Indian voters are used to a single counting day, with most results in by evening, a U.S. count can run for days, and in a close race for weeks.

This year the worry is whether the outcome will be accepted at all. In 2020, doubts arose after the count, and Mr. Trump still has not accepted that defeat. This time, they are being raised before voting, with Mr. Trump stating that he will accept the result only “if the elections are honest”.

The U.S. does have a federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), but its responsibility is limited to certifying voting machines and training election staff. The 50 States have thousands of county officials who man the booths, count the votes and declare results; India’s electronic voting machines can total crores of votes in a few hours.

In the U.S., many votes come by post, and each envelope must be opened and its signature checked before the ballot is counted. Moreover, there is variance in the procedure followed by different States. California will accept a postal ballot up to a week after polling day if it was posted in time.

Twenty-six States order an automatic recount when the margin is very narrow.