Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says voters should know the results of Tuesday’s election before they go to sleep.
“You can go to bed at night, before 12 midnight, knowing what the results are,” Raffensperger said Oct. 27 while touring election operations in Gwinnett County, Atlanta News First reported. “We are not going to keep you up to 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock in the morning. Those days are done. By 10 o’clock, I hope to be calling the governor and letting him know what the top of the ticket looks like.”
What changed after 2020
Long delays in Georgia’s 2020 count fueled distrust of the results. Raffensperger credited changes in state law since then. A 2024 state law, SB 189, requires counties to report advance-voting results within an hour of polls closing.
Polls close at 7 p.m., and counties must report advance-voting results by 8 p.m., 11Alive reported. In 2024, nearly 80% of votes were cast early, and state elections director Blake Evans estimated that results for about 95% of votes were in by about 10 p.m. More than 2 million Georgians voted early in person this year, WRDW reported.
“Beat you to death with audits”
Raffensperger also promised checks after the count. “Well, Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Trust, but verify,’ so what we do is we are going to verify,” he said. “We’re going to beat you to death with audits.”
His office has 20 risk-limiting audits planned for every congressional and statewide race on the ballot, Atlanta News First reported, and Raffensperger said close contests can also get full hand recounts. Election-night numbers are unofficial. Military and overseas ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive until 5 p.m. Friday, counties certify on Nov. 9, and the state certifies by Nov. 20.
Do you know where you’ll vote?
There’s nothing scarier than showing up to the wrong location on Election Day.
This Halloween, take some time to get ready for Tuesday.
Check your polling location and review sample ballots on your My Voter Page at mvp.sos.ga.gov.
Georgia Secretary of State (@GaSecofState), Oct. 31, 2026
Other states take longer
Not every state moves that fast. In California, mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive within seven days, and county officials have 30 days to finish the official canvass, according to the California Secretary of State. PE has a rundown of counting timelines in 10 states.
