The White House officially announced that the midterm results will probably be delayed despite the upgraded systems. While in the past delays might not be unusual, this go around with a fully-digital system and given issues in the past, the White House’s announcement might make voters nervous.
During a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Katrine Jean-Pierre made many people nervous after a reporter asked when we should know the results saying, “you and President Biden last week have been warning the American people that election results may not be official on Tuesday night, that it may take some time.”
The reporter then asked Jean-Pierre if Biden will have states who do not count their ballots early change their laws. Here’s her response:
“what the President was trying to say is that, you know, we are in a time — in a different time where — in modern elections where more and more ballots are being cast in early voting and by mail, as I mentioned. And many states don’t start counting ballots until after the polls close on November 8th. So, we’re just trying to communicate with the American people, let them know like this is — this process certainly has changed, again, in modern elections.”
Jean-Pierre went on to urge voters to be patient but the White House’s response is not very reassuring. Even with states who wait until after polls have closed to count ballots, it’s almost unfeasible not to have some results given the fact that the printed form was scanned in. I agree, having a physical count can take time, but what’s the point of scanning in the votes if not to have the numbers early and to be more secure?
Q Thanks, Karine. Two questions, if I could. One, you and President Biden last week have been warning the American people that election results may not be official on Tuesday night, that it may take some time. I’m wondering if the White House would support essentially having states who don’t count ballots early — who don’t count early ballots so that they’re ready for election day — would you support having those states change their laws to count early votes so that election results will come in sooner?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I don’t have anything to share with you on that, about changing policies or changing what states do.
What we’re try- — what the President was trying to say is that, you know, we are in a time — in a different time where — in modern elections where more and more ballots are being cast in early voting and by mail, as I mentioned. And many states don’t start counting ballots until after the polls close on November 8th. So, we’re just trying to communicate with the American people, let them know like this is — this process certainly has changed, again, in modern elections.
And so, again, you know, it’s — it’s an important reminder for people to be patient, for people to understand that. And that’s what we care about. That’s the message that we’re trying to put forward to the American people. And I’m — I’m just not going to talk about ch- — policy changes or what we recommend states to do or not do.
Erica Carlin is an independent journalist, opinion writer and contributor to several news and opinion sources. She is based in Georgia.
