Ballotpedia:How we decide when to update vote totals on and after election night
This page outlines Ballotpedia's policy on when to update vote totals on and after election night. Our policy varies depending on the type of office up for election and whether the election has battleground status:
- Top-ballot races: Top-ballot races, which we define as elections for the U.S. Presidency, U.S. Congress, and state governorships, will receive updates to their vote totals on a daily basis until the election has been called.
- Down-ballot battleground races: Down-ballot races that Ballotpedia has identified as battlegrounds will receive updates to their vote totals once every 72 hours until the election has been called.
- Down-ballot non-battleground races: All other down-ballot races will receive a vote total update only once the election has been called.
Battleground races and elections for U.S. President, U.S. Congress, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state will be covered night-of by Ballotpedia. All other elections may be covered either night-of or the morning following the election.
Following the official certification of results, our vote totals are updated again to match the final official tally. Ballotpedia may, under its own discretion, update vote totals between an election being called and its certified vote totals being released.