Midterm election results may come after election day. This comes from a number of factors, including the processing and counting of ballots. Election rules also play a significant role in why results may not be official until days or weeks after election night. One of the biggest reasons for the potential delay is mail-in or absentee ballots.

After the 2020 presidential election, an election cycle in which we saw the most amount of mail-in ballots, results weren’t officially called until days after polls closed. This led many to believe election results had been tampered with for several reasons. One of the top reasons is that the majority of mail-in voters are Democrats which gives the Democrats a good motive to find more votes, though it is also harder to oversee mail-in ballot counting, and many laws keep mail-in ballots reserved until polls open. It could be important to keep in mind the following state rules in tight-race states.