NUECES COUNTY, Texas — Despite some fears nationally that Election Night could drag on for days as election officials process votes, Nueces County Clerk Kara Sands said we should know who the winners of local races are on election night.
It all has to do with mail-in ballots and each state's deadline by which election officials must receive them.
If you are one of the thousands expected to vote by mail in Nueces County, here's what you should know to make sure your vote counts.
Keep in mind your ballot can be mailed back or even hand delivered in-person as soon as you fill out the form.
If you hand deliver your ballot to the county clerk's office, it must be in by the time polls close at 7 p.m. on election night.
For those who choose the option to vote by mail and plan to mail the ballot back, you might not want to wait until the last minute to do so.
The mail in ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day.
Keep in mind, if you mail out your ballot and it's postmarked on November 3, your ballot must make it to the county clerk's office by 5 p.m. the very next day on November 4 in order for it to still be counted.
"We can receive it the day after on the fourth as long as it is postmarked on Election Day or prior," confirmed Sands.
Sands said any ballot that arrives after that deadline won't be accepted.
"We may get five that come in a couple of days later, but a super majority, most of them come in in a timely manner," said Sands.
Each state is different on when mail in ballots must be received in the mail and still counted.
While there are many states that will not accept ballots through the mail after Election Day, others will.
According to vote.org and ncsl.org, In New York, mail in ballots will be accepted up to seven days after Election Day if they are post marked by Election Day.
Alaska, it's up 10 ten days after the election if postmarked on or before Election Day. For voters in Illinois, it's 14 days after the election if postmarked on or before Election Day.
In California, mailed ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than 17 days.
Sands believes we should have a clear indication of local winners by election night.
"Locally yes, we'll know. The presidential election, I'm not sure," Sands said.
In Bee County, elections administrator Laura Warnix is also confident their results will be in by election night.
"We feel like we will have our first results which will be all of our early voting and absentee ballot by mail. Those will be posted no later than 7:15 ish. In the midterm I had results posted by 8:30 p.m.," said Warnix.
Sands added she has been working with the US Postal Service to help ease fears of voting by mail and to make sure your ballot gets to its destination on time.
"I want to reassure voters, if you mail your ballot in Nueces County, it will not leave Nueces County. We are working very closely with the postmaster general. We are all working hand in hand, and we are letting them know these are the ballots going out today. They've been great," said Sands.
3News received this statement from the US Postal Service
"The U.S. Postal Service's number one priority between now and the November election is the secure, timely delivery of the nation's Election Mail.
As part of the ongoing preparations by the U.S. Postal Service for the November election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requested the issuance of an internal directive to authorize and instruct the use of additional resources to satisfy any demand and ensure that all Election Mail is prioritized and delivered securely and in a timely manner.
The directive authorizes and instructs the use of these additional resources beginning on October 1 by local teams, including District Managers, Postmasters, Division Directors and Plant Managers, across all areas of operations, which include, but are not limited to, expanded processing procedures, extra transportation, extra delivery and collection trips, and overtime to ensure that Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner.
The directive also makes clear that, as it has done in previous election cycles, the Postal Service will be taking additional extraordinary measures to accelerate the delivery of ballots starting the week before Election Day."