La Crosse clerk says election results could wait until Wednesday

The national media are quick to remind us–only one week left until election day, and Donald Trump has said he wants to know the winner of the presidential race the same night. 

But it might not be that simple. 

Just in Wisconsin, the counting could take all night, or even longer, because of absentee ballots.

La Crosse County clerk Ginny Dankmeyer says any absentee ballots submitted by election day will be delivered to the proper polling places in the county, and may be counted during the day. 

The results would not be released until the polls are closed.

“We’re probably looking at 5 or 6 a.m. (Wednesday),” said Dankmeyer. “I know there’s over a hundred thousand that Milwaukee has to count. I think they’ve already said they’ve brought in eight different high speed tabulating machines, and even if they process them non-stop, it’s still gonna be 4 or 5 in the morning before they’re done processing.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that any mailed ballots received after November 3rd will not be counted. 

Democrats tried to extend the deadline for counting those ballots, because the volume will be very high, and that puts pressure on voters to get their absentee ballots in now. 

Dankmeyer says all ballots turned in by election day will be kept safe, and could be counted by poll workers during the day, with the results held until after the polls close.