THREAD! Ballot processing and counting the vote after #ElectionDay is normal! We want to showcase the why + how of our behind-the-scenes post-election activities. Note: photos without masks are from earlier elections. #Election2020 #TrustedInfo2020 #Vote

Even when many voters return their ballots early, we still receive more mail ballots on Election Day than we can completely process. Our goal on election night is to let voters know that their ballot was safely received.

Our focus the immediate 2 days after EDay is to signature verify all mail ballots. For any envelope that has a signature we can’t match, we send a letter - same for missing sigs/ID. We also notify voters via Ballot Track on steps to cure their ballot & have their ballot counted.

Colorado has a voter-centric system allowing any voter to return their mail ballot to any county clerk by 7 p.m. on Election Night, but those ballots still need to make their way home! They continue to arrive during the post-election 8-day window.

There are multiple reasons envelopes & ballots may need to be processed manually. Many voters need a replacement return envelope and/or send back a damaged envelope. When we get a lot of these in the last few days, these are processed during the post-election week.

An even greater # of ballots arrive to us torn, stained, marked with highlighter/sharpie, etc. These ballots need to be duplicated onto fresh ballots that can easily go through our scanners. This is done by bipartisan election judges & takes an average of 5-10 minutes a ballot.

While most military/overseas voters return their mail ballot by Election Day, federal law mandates that we continue to accept these mail ballots through 8 days after the election (Nov 12 this year following Veterans Day).

Following all this work & after voters cure their ballot envelope issues (signature discrepancy, missing signature, missing ID), on the 9th day following the election, we process these ballots & add their final votes to the unofficial election results.

After all the ballot processing is completed, we get to work preparing for the election audit and producing the final election reports for our canvass board to certify the election. Then we have #Thanksgiving! End of THREAD!