On Election Day in Arizona, the polls closed at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. Two days later, only 69% of the ballots have been counted in the Grand Canyon State. Nevada is also still counting ballots, with 90% of the vote tabulated.
Although President-elect Donald Trump seems to have a path to victory in both states, key senate races still hang in the balance.
Why does Arizona take days to count and process ballots?
It comes down to the returned early ballots that need to be processed and scanned to verify voters’ signatures before those votes can be counted.
Early ballots dropped off on Election Day cannot be counted until after Election Day because of the signature verification process. This can take days, depending on the number of voters who dropped off early ballots on Election Day.
Arizona law also allows a five-day curing period for county election officials to “ensure only valid signatures are counted.”
“State law provides voters with questionable signatures five calendar days after the 2024 general election to confirm their signature,” elections officials said.