SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — For San Diego County residents eager to see the election results, the County Registrar of Voters says the first wave of unofficial results will trickle in after 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those include early mail and vote center ballots between October 27 and Monday.
Complete unofficial results may not be available until 1 a.m. Wednesday or possibly even later.
The vote-counting process must follow a specific order: first, pre-Election Day mail-in ballots and early vote center ballots are counted, then Election Day drop-offs at vote centers and official drop boxes go next, and finally, mail ballots that are postmarked by November 5 have a seven day grace period to arrive at the county registrar.
For those who missed the October 21 registration deadline, provisional voting remains an option through conditional registration on Election Day. These ballots undergo additional verification before being counted to ensure no duplicate voting has occurred across the state.
The vote-counting process continues well after Election Day. Updated unofficial results are scheduled for release at 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and again on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If the count is close and recounts are needed, the process pauses briefly for the Thanksgiving holiday on November 28 and 29, with final certification required by December 5.
When will the Presidential race results be available?
On the national level, the final counts will come from The Associated Press (AP) -considered the cornerstone of election reporting since 1848 - and major news networks.
Recent presidential elections have shown varying timelines for determining winners. The 2020 election wasn't called until four days after Election Day, with Biden's victory announced at 11:26 a.m. ET on November 7.
In contrast, the 2016 election was called for Trump at 2:29 a.m. ET the day after Election Day, while 11:38 p.m. ET called the 2012 election.
It's important to note that the United States lacks a centralized election results system. Instead, results are managed locally by thousands of offices following state-specific standards. This decentralized approach means that while initial results will begin flowing in as polls close in each state, the presidential race's outcome may take time to determine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
