82.9 Million Mail-in Ballot Applications... Nearly 30 Million Voters Already Cast Votes
Delay in Confirming Election Results Inevitable... Focus on Florida and Arizona Outcomes
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] As the US presidential election continues to be a close contest, there are forecasts that it will not be easy to confirm the winner immediately after the election.
In US presidential elections, it has generally been the case that the outcome is decided by early the next day after the vote count, with the winner giving a victory speech and the loser conceding defeat to conclude the process.
However, this year, the expansion of mail-in voting has delayed the counting process, making it difficult to quickly determine the election loser. Also, if the vote margin is not large, disputes between the two candidates' camps are inevitable. There are concerns about possible riots by far-right extremists in some areas.
According to the New York Times (NYT) and others on the 18th (local time), 82.9 million voters have applied for mail-in ballots in this year's election. Among them, 20.7 million have already completed mail-in voting. This already surpasses the 33 million mail-in voters in the 2016 election.
The expansion of mail-in voting means an increase in counting time. Mail-in ballots require preparation procedures such as opening envelopes, verifying signatures, and checking barcode on envelopes, which take a lot of time for counting. If a desired candidate is not listed, voters can write another person's name on the ballot. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, known as 'Hanguk Sa-wi' (Korean son-in-law), revealed that he wrote his father's name on the ballot. In such cases, the counters must sort out the names written on the ballots.
The severe shortage of election management personnel in most areas is also a reason for expected delays in counting. Kim Dong-seok, head of the Korean American Voter Coalition, said, "Bergen County in northern New Jersey has hundreds of thousands of voters but only two election officials," predicting significant difficulties in managing the count. As of this day, 62,067 mail-in ballots have arrived in Bergen County. New York and Kentucky have already experienced serious delays in counting due to mail-in voting.
Moreover, some states recognize mail-in ballots as valid if they bear a postmark from the election day and arrive within a certain period after the election day.
Because of this, US media are focusing on the counting results from Florida and Arizona, two battleground states where mail-in ballots are expected to be fully counted on election day. Florida allows mail-in ballot counting procedures to start 22 days before election day, and Arizona 14 days before.
Arizona has not seen a Democratic candidate win since the 1996 presidential election, so if Biden wins here, it is highly likely he has won in other battleground states as well.
USA Today reported that many election experts warn that the final results could take days or even weeks, and they expect Arizona and Florida to provide hints about who won.
There are also concerns that delays in counting results could lead to social unrest.
The Washington Post reported that worries are rising among residents in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Armed vigilantes plan to occupy polling stations on election day, causing anxiety among neighbors, and there is a possibility that outsiders such as KKK groups from other states might gather. Additionally, Erie County is facing concerns due to a shortage of sheriffs to monitor 149 polling stations.
Jim Watz, Democratic chairman of Erie County, said, "Tensions are rising every day." On this day, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and other Democratic lawmakers urged voters to prepare for delays in election results, warning that results might not be available on election day, November 3rd.
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