Episode 585
We salute America's ballot counters
We’re saluting America’s ballot counters — the unsung heroes who spent election night (and way past bedtime) making sure every valid vote gets counted. I’m talkin’ Arkansas folks: polls close at 7:30, 75 counties, Boards of Election Commissioners tally it up and report to the Secretary of State, and yeah, we even start processing some absentee ballots before election day so we’re not still waiting at Christmas. Those teams juggle early votes, absentees, provisos, reporters, candidates, and thousands of Facebook experts all watching like hawks while they just try to make the numbers add up. I don’t have the patience to wait 15 minutes at a drive-thru, but these champs have up to 15 days to reconcile and certify — patience levels: legendary. So props to the midnight counters, the real MVPs of democracy — we were all counting on you, and you delivered.
Takeaways:
- I remind y'all Arkansas polls close at 7:30, and 75 counties handle tabulation, with county boards having about 15 days to certify results.
- We salute the folks who work overtime counting early votes, absentee ballots, and provisional ballots — some absentee processing even starts before Election Day.
- Even when TV pundits shout winners, I note those numbers are unofficial until counties reconcile every ballot and certify.
- We joke about refreshing phones, but ballot counters actually deal with candidates, reporters, and thousands of Facebook experts breathing down their necks.
- I gave a goofy salute to America's ballot counters — unsung, patient, and the real heroes keeping democracy ticking while we sleep.
Transcript
Good morning.
Speaker A:It's Haystack.
Speaker A:Another election day is behind us here in the great natural state.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And the campaign commercials have finally stopped.
Speaker A:The candidates have given their speeches, most of them.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The rest of us can go back to being annoyed by regular commercials instead of political commercials.
Speaker A:But while many of us were were sitting around last night keeping an eye on results, election workers across the nation and across the state of Arkansas putting in some serious overtime.
Speaker A:And there's a lot that goes into counting an election.
Speaker A:Here in Arkansas, polls close at 7:30, but the people counting votes don't get to flip a switch and go home.
Speaker A:We've got 75 counties and in each county the Board of Election Commissioners are responsible for tabulating the votes and reporting the results to the Secretary of State.
Speaker A:And we're not just talking about the people who voted yesterday.
Speaker A:You've got all the early votes, the absentee ballots, the provisional ballots that likely require some additional review.
Speaker A:In fact, Arkansas starts processing some absentee ballots before election day.
Speaker A:Otherwise we'd be waiting until Christmas to find out who won.
Speaker A:And even when the media declares a winner, those numbers are unofficial.
Speaker A:The county election commissions have to reconcile everything and certify the results.
Speaker A:And here in Arkansas they have, they have about 15 days after the election to do that.
Speaker A:15 Days.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't have the patience to wait 15 minutes for my food at the drive through, but we gotta wait 15 days anyway.
Speaker A:Just imagine the pressure of dealing with all this counting.
Speaker A:You've got all these Republicans watching you like a hawk and all these Democrats watching you like a hawk, and candidates demanding answers and reporters calling for updates and thousands of people on Facebook who are convinced that they understand your job better than you do.
Speaker A:And meanwhile, you're just trying to make sure the numbers add up.
Speaker A:So while the politicians give the speeches and get the TV time and the victory parties, there's another group of Americans who deserve a little recognition.
Speaker A:And we're going to give it to them now.
Speaker A:The dedicated men and women who spend election night making sure every valid vote gets counted.
Speaker A:Today, we salute you, America's ballot counters.
Speaker A:It's time for a salute to a real election hero.
Speaker B:Real election hero.
Speaker A:Today we salute you, America's ballot counters.
Speaker B:America's ballot counters.
Speaker A:The midterm elections were last night.
Speaker A:And while most Americans were sound asleep, thousands of you were burning the midnight oil, giving 110%, working 24, 7, 365.
Speaker B:Whoops.
Speaker B:We hope those numbers didn't mess you up.
Speaker A:If so, just do a recount.
Speaker B:And then a recount of the recount.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:The polls are closed, but your work is far from over.
Speaker A:While candidates claim victory, political pundits argue.
Speaker A:And Americans keep refreshing their phones.
Speaker A:You keep counting every single ballot.
Speaker A:And after millions of votes.
Speaker A:Votes.
Speaker A:You're number one.
Speaker B:America's ballot counters.
Speaker A:Great job.
Speaker A:We were all counting on you.
