Vote 2020: Election Day results explained

Every vote counts, but not every vote is counted on Election Day and that's an issue in determining winners and losers this year.

News 12 Staff

Nov 2, 2020, 1:49 PM

Updated 1,410 days ago

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Election Day is tomorrow, but the results may not be known for quite some time.
Thousands of Long Islanders are willing to stand in long lines for hours, rain or shine, to cast their ballots.
Every vote counts, but not every vote is counted on Election Day and that's an issue in determining winners and losers this year.
More than 300,000 Nassau and Suffolk residents requested absentee ballots.
 Suffolk Board of Elections GOP Commissioner Nick LaLota says counting those ballots will take a lot of time.
“It’s very unlikely that the Board of Elections will be able to call much, if any, races on election night,” says LaLota.
Absentee ballots won't be counted until a week after Election Day.  So what will we know on Nov. 3? News 12 asked Nassau Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Jim Scheuerman. “
On election night you'll have the results from early voting, and you'll have the results from Election Day,” says Scheuerman.
People on both sides of the aisle are concerned about how this will all play out. President Donald Trump is urging his supporters to head to the polls.
“So important for you to go to out and vote in person, this is the most important election in our lifetime,” says President Donald Trump.
The president tweeted:  "Must know election results on the night of the election, not days, months or even years later."
Meanwhile, some Democrats have concerns of their own - they say what if the outcome of this race is ultimately decided by the Supreme Court?
Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, tweeted, "President Trump has been clear that he wanted Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the court to help him in election challenges."
It's unclear when we'll get the final vote tally in New York.
“The time lag in counting the absentees is to make sure no one votes twice. So we're never going to sacrifice accuracy for speed when it comes to an election,” says Scheuerman.
“On Long Island, there aren't so many really red, or really really blue districts, maybe those will be the ones called on Election Day, but the rest of them, 80 or 90 percent of them, won't be able to be called until all of the paper ballots are counted,” says LaLota.