Early voting at the Polk County Auditor’s Election Office on 2nd Avenue in Des Moines, on Oct. 31, 2024. (Photo by Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Though many Americans are eagerly awaiting an end to the 2024 election season on Nov. 5, national and state officials say to be prepared to not get final results Tuesday night.
In Iowa, voters have been participating through early and absentee voting since Oct. 16 — and many more will go to polling places to vote in person on Election Day Tuesday. Voters have an 8 p.m. deadline — with precinct locations open until 8 p.m. and absentee ballots due to local county auditor’s offices by 8 p.m. to be counted.
Though there will be unofficial results available Tuesday night, Election Day is just the beginning of the process for counting and confirming votes in the path that leads to elected officials taking their positions in January.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement Monday that Iowans should remember election night results are unofficial — results are only official and final after being certified by the county and state boards of canvass on Dec. 2.
That does not mean Iowans will not know the outcomes of many races Tuesday night. Once polls close, unofficial results are submitted by local county auditors, Pate said, adding that “county commissioners are to remain on duty until all election results have been reported from all of their precincts, including absentee ballots.”
Election results, and breakdowns by precinct and county, will be available on the Secretary of State’s website. Races will also be called by the Associated Press Tuesday night as unofficial results are posted.
However, if margins are extremely tight in specific elections, a winner may not be called in some races on Tuesday. A recent example in Iowa is U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ first election to Congress in 2020, winning the 2nd Congressional District race against Democrat Rita Hart. The race was considered too close to call on election night, Nov. 3, 2020. Through the recount and eventual certification process by the state Board of Canvass, Miller-Meeks’ victory came down to six votes.
Even after Miller-Meeks was declared the winner following recounting and canvassing, the Republican was seated provisionally in Congress due to a legal challenge posed by Hart. The challenge was not withdrawn until March 2021.
Miller-Meeks was not the only race being contested long after Election Day in 2020. Results in the race between former President Donald Trump, who is again the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, and President Joe Biden also took time to be finalized in states like Nevada and Georgia. In the months and years following, Trump has falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him.
These claims, in part, led to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and heightened distrust of U.S. elections, as well as an increase to threats to election officials and poll workers.
Election officials said in interviews with States Newsroom to expect similar challenges and disinformation about results to come in the 2024 general election, where Trump faces former Vice President Kamala Harris. Already, there have been hundreds of lawsuits filed before the election, mainly by Republicans, challenging election integrity in various states as well as alleging noncitizens are illegally voting in federal elections. These challenges could cause delays to final election results.
Iowa has also seen concerns about noncitizen voting in recent weeks. Pate issued guidance to county auditors throughout the state to challenge the voting credentials of people identified by the state as potentially noncitizens. While many of these individuals are understood to be naturalized citizens who have the legal right to participate in elections, a federal judge ruled Sunday in favor of letting the guidance stand, as at least a portion of the individuals listed currently do not have citizenship status.
As concerns about election integrity mount, the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State issued a joint statement Monday assuring voters that there are countless safeguards in place, and warning people to be aware that problems may still occur.
“As with any Election Day, it is important to note operational issues may arise: for example, voting locations could open late, there could be lines during busy periods, or an area could lose power,” the organizations said in the statement. “These are inevitable challenges that will arise on Election Day, but election officials have contingency plans for these and other scenarios. Americans can have confidence the election is secure, and the results will be counted accurately.”
After voting concludes in Iowa, there will be automatic post-election audits in all 99 of the state’s counties to ensure votes have been counted accurately. Additionally, candidates have the ability to request recounts in their races — Iowa law allows candidates to request a recount by 5 p.m. on the third day after a county’s canvass of the election.
Pate asked for Iowans’ patience while awaiting election results.
“We understand that Iowans are excited to see the results, and local election officials do their best to report results quickly and accurately,” Pate said. “Our goal is to get the correct results, and while we aim to do it as quickly as possible, we prioritize accuracy over speed.”