Richmond, Va. (Newsradiowrva.com) - In an attempt to improve confidence in this year's election results, WRVA spoke to Henrico's and Chesterfield's registrar to find out how election night results will be reported. Last year's results saw some late shifts, a result of a large number of people voting absentee and early. The absentee precinct is usually the final to report.
This year, early and absentee votes will be reported separately. As a result, there will not be one huge segment of votes coming in later in the evening. Both Henrico and Chesterfield, however, have sent out over 15,000 mail-in absentee ballots, and those will take some time to process. The absentee count will likely take some time into the evening, while the early vote total could be available within an hour of the polls closing.
Election watchers also will need to remember that absentee ballots can be receive up until Friday after Election Day (provided they are postmarked by Election Day). Those numbers will change in the days following the Election.
The State Elections Department also has a website set up to answer and address misconceptions, which you can find here.
