New election buzzword: Patience

There’s a new buzzword in American politics – one we may not be used to: patience. But patience we may need to have nonetheless as some are predicting a slower vote count amid overwhelming early voter turnout. Why? Mail-in ballots. Once few, more American’s than ever before have already voted amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns. Some states call them absentee or early voting ballots. These ballots require election commission staff to open, flatten and check each ballot for errors before they are even counted. That takes more time than ballots cast at the polls.