The First Numbers Drop After 7 p.m.
On Election Day in Virginia, polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. No official results are released before this time. Shortly after 7 p.m., the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) begins to publish unofficial results on its public-facing website. The very first numbers to be reported are typically from early in-person voting and the mail-in absentee ballots that local registrars have already received and pre-processed. State law permits election officials to begin processing these ballots before Election Day, but they cannot be tabulated or reported until the polls have officially closed. This is why an initial batch of results can sometimes appear relatively quickly, representing a significant chunk of the total vote.
A Steady Stream of Precinct Results
After the initial release
of early and absentee votes, the focus shifts to the results from in-person voting on Election Day. As individual precincts finish counting their ballots, they transmit their totals to their local registrar's office. The registrar then enters these results into the state's central reporting system. This process happens on a rolling basis throughout the evening. The state's official results page typically refreshes automatically every ten minutes until midnight, when live reporting for the night concludes. This creates a steady, if sometimes uneven, flow of information as different localities, from small rural precincts to large urban ones, report their totals at different speeds.
Why 'Unofficial' is the Key Word
Every number you see on election night is considered 'unofficial'. These are the raw totals as reported by precincts and counties. They are not the final, certified results. The official verification process, known as the 'canvass', begins the day after the election. During the canvass, local electoral boards meticulously review the numbers, reconcile pollbook data with ballot counts, and adjudicate any provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are cast when a voter's eligibility is in question at the polling place and require further review. This post-election period is a critical part of ensuring accuracy over speed.
What's Not Included on Election Night
While the vast majority of votes are counted and reported on election night, some are not. The two main categories are late-arriving mail ballots and provisional ballots. Virginia law allows for mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received by the local registrar by noon on the Friday after the election. These valid, legally cast ballots are added to the totals in the days following the election. Provisional ballots are also reviewed and counted during this period. In extremely close races, these remaining ballots can sometimes be decisive, which is why news organizations may be hesitant to declare a winner if the margin is razor-thin on election night.
The Final, Certified Results
The entire post-election process culminates in the official certification of the results. Local electoral boards have a set period to complete their canvass and submit their final, verified numbers to the state. The Virginia State Board of Elections then meets to formally certify the statewide results. For a November general election, this certification typically happens on the first Monday of December. Only after this certification are the election results considered final and official. This deliberate, multi-step process is designed to ensure every valid vote is counted accurately, providing a trustworthy and transparent final tally.
