Editorial: Election results take time. Ignore the conspiracy theories

Election Day is just around the corner and the end to this turbulent campaign season cannot come soon enough. But it may not come on Tuesday evening.

With the presidential race expected to be close, it's entirely possible Americans will have to wait days to learn whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump will be the next commander in chief. Votes can take a while to count, and despite what malicious actors may suggest, that's okay. A healthy democracy can afford to count every vote carefully and wait patiently for accurate results.

In 2020, Trump cynically and dangerously claimed that legitimate delays in counting a record number of mailed ballots were evidence of fraud and claimed that Democrats were “trying to steal the election.” Trump's lies have been exposed and rejected by judges in numerous court cases, but his disinformation campaign was convincing Thousands of people to show up at his “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021 and storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.

This year, election officials (including both Republicans and Democrats) have sought to redefine expectations about the speed at which votes can be counted in an attempt to curb conspiracy theories.

Here are the facts:

• More states, including California, have expanded the use of mail-in ballots and ballot drop boxes, which are more convenient for voters. These ballots will take longer to count due to election staff Verify signatures on ballot envelopes using state records.
• States have different rules that can affect the speed of their counts. Pennsylvania, for example, does not allow poll workers to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day. North Carolina will require photo ID to vote this year, which is expected to increase the number of voters provisional ballots which need to be researched to determine eligibility, which takes time.

• In 2020, Trump made the absurd and laughably ignorant claim that ballots counted after Election Day are not legitimate. Election workers do not and should not stop counting votes after 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. That would be impractical and unfair. And no election has ever been certified on Election Day.
• Some politicians, pundits and even media outlets may choose to call a race based on early returns, but that is often irresponsible. Results may change as ballots are counted. In the 2018 midterm elections, Republican candidates led the way due to early wins in some key congressional races in California. This turned out to be a “red mirage”: When all the ballots were counted, the Democrats won the seats and control of the House of Representatives. At the time, some Republicans suggested the reversal of fortunes was an indication of some sort of election misconduct. That wasn't it. Election officials were simply doing their jobs and making sure every vote was counted.

This is a politically tense moment. Foreign powers and opportunists have already spread disinformation to undermine confidence in the election. Last week, US intelligence agencies accused Russia for a viral video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia IDs claiming to have voted multiple times. Russia is also allegedly responsible for a fake video purporting to show someone Destroy ballot papers flagged for Trump in Pennsylvania.

That's why it's so important to rely on facts, verifiable information and reliable sources like the National Assn. the Secretary of State, whose members preside over elections, and being a discerning consumer of social media where so many false claims circulate.

This year's election will test Americans and our democratic institutions. Let's do everything we can to make sure we pass.