Give clerks a head start counting

So, who won? We are all eager to find out the results of the election. But we may not know the final result until well after the polls close. Election officials say it could even be days, perhaps several days, before a winner can be determined. That is due in large part to the record number of absentee ballots that will be cast in the November election. It isn’t just that there will be a lot of ballots arriving in the mail or dropped in drop boxes. In Wisconsin, it is that local clerks can’t start counting those ballots until the day of the election. It is also possible, based on back and forth court rulings, that clerks will be allowed to receive and count absentee ballots for six days after the polls close. It is going to be a long process. But that process could be quickened if clerks were allowed to start counting ballots earlier. Many states have such laws on the books. It allows clerks to start counting absentee ballots days before the election. They can process, but not tabulate, so no one knows who is getting the most votes before the election is held. Wisconsin government has been stubborn in calls for change. There is still time for lawmakers to rewrite the rules, but it seems unlikely. So it could be days or even weeks before we know who won in Wisconsin. Rather than a long election night of counting ballots, this year it could be a long election week.