Do states report how many mail-in/absentee ballots are outstanding on election night? (2020)

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Not all states will finish counting absentee/mail-in votes on election night. Some states count absentee ballots that arrive after November 3, 2020, but are postmarked by that date. In addition, some states are legally bound to wait until Election Day to begin processing absentee/mail-in ballots and will likely not be able to finish counting them on election night.

Data on the number of outstanding absentee ballots can shed light on when we are likely to know the outcome of elections. The table below summarizes whether state elections agencies publish information about outstanding absentee ballots on or before election night. In particular, the table tracks information availability about the following:

• The number of absentee/mail-in ballots that have been returned to election offices
• The number of absentee/mail-in ballots that voters have requested or the number that have been issued
• The number of absentee/mail-in ballots that have been returned but not yet counted

Note: The table reflects data collected by the United States Elections Project, led by Professor Michael McDonald at the University of Florida. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

What do states report about absentee/mail-in ballots on or before election night?
State	Number returned	Number requested or issued	Number returned but remaining to be counted
Alabama	Yes	Yes	No
Alaska	Yes	Yes	No
Arizona			No
Arkansas	Yes	Yes	No
California		Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters
Colorado	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
Connecticut	Yes	Yes	No
Delaware	Yes	Yes	No
District of Columbia	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters
Florida	Yes	Yes	No
Georgia	Yes	Yes	No
Hawaii	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
Idaho	No	No	No
Illinois	Yes	Yes
Indiana	No	No	No
Iowa	Yes	Yes	No
Kansas	Yes	Yes
Kentucky	Yes	Yes
Louisiana	Yes	No
Maine	Yes	Yes	No
Maryland	Yes	Yes	No
Massachusetts	Yes	Yes	No
Michigan	Yes	Yes	No
Minnesota	Yes	Yes
Mississippi	Yes	Yes
Missouri	Yes	Yes	No
Montana	Yes	Yes	No
Nebraska	Yes	Yes	No
Nevada	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
New Hampshire	Yes	Yes	No
New Jersey	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters
New Mexico	Yes	Yes	Available upon request
New York	Yes	Yes	No
North Carolina	Yes	Yes
North Dakota	Yes	Yes	No
Ohio	Available locally	Available locally
Oklahoma	Yes	Yes	No
Oregon	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
Pennsylvania	Yes	Yes	No
Rhode Island	Yes	Yes	Available upon request
South Carolina	Yes	Yes	No
South Dakota	Yes	Yes	No
Tennessee	Yes	No	No
Texas	Yes	No
Utah	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
Vermont	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	No
Virginia	Yes	Yes
Washington	Yes	Absentee ballots automatically mailed to voters	Available upon request
West Virginia	Yes	Yes	No
Wisconsin	Yes	Yes	No
Wyoming	Yes	Yes	No

Availability of information on outstanding absentee/mail-in ballots

At least 45 states and the District of Columbia have published data on the number of absentee/mail-in ballots that have been returned. At least 34 states have published data on the number that have been requested or issued. Nine states and the District of Columbia do not require an absentee ballot request form, but will automatically mail ballots to registered voters. While some of these elections agencies regularly publish reports on this data, others provide the data upon request.

States do not typically report on the number of absentee ballots that have been returned but remain to be counted on or before election night. At least 35 state elections agencies do not plan to report on that figure, while at least three make that information available upon request. In some cases, municipalities track this figure but are not required to report it to the state elections agency. In other cases, states do not plan to report this data because they anticipate completing the count of absentee/mail-in ballots on election night. Finally, some states, such as Wisconsin and Massachusetts, do not report any election results at the state level on election night.

Election results are finalized in a process called the canvassing and certification of the vote. As part of this process, states often publish a report that includes a breakdown of the number of in-person, absentee, and provisional votes in each race. By this point, however, states have completed the tally of absentee/mail-in votes.

Next question: Are results reported on election night coming from in-person or absentee/mail-in votes?

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions.

More frequently asked questions about the 2020 election

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• Processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots
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  • Are results reported on election night coming from in-person or absentee/mail-in votes?
  • Do states report how many mail-in/absentee ballots are outstanding on election night?
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• Articles about potential scenarios in the 2020 election
• U.S. Supreme Court actions affecting the November 3, 2020, general election

See also

• When states can begin processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots, 2020
• Absentee/mail-in voting return deadlines, 2020

Related articles

• The New York Times, "Tracking Absentee Votes in the 2020 Election"
• U.S. Elections Project, "2020 General Election Early Vote Statistics"