That is correct, but I think early stats are given out as to "how many people registered from each party have returned their early ballots." I am making this assumption because of the depth of information some people now seem to have about what is going on in the Iowa election. Of course, these are state laws, so one state might be more forthcoming than another. But in ALL states, the actual vote totals are never released before the polls close on election night.

In some places, where mail-in voting is small, these votes are often never even counted.

Here's a typical scenario:

State of West Dakota counts all in-person ballots cast on election day (from polling stations). The count comes up:

Dem -- 435,698
GOP -- 578,230

Now, they know they have 88,571 mail-in (or "absentee") ballots, in addition to these subtotals. But that total number added to the Dem would not give him the victory... so they don't even bother counting them. Only in the situation where the outcome could change (214,739 mail-ins outstanding, for instance) would they even bother to count them.

But of course, your state may vary.

-CW

Is it safe to assume that the tallys of early voting/mail voting are not released until the end of Election Day???

Michale

http://www.computing.dcu.ie/wpapers/2009/0309.pdf

That said, I do like my ritual of early voting, the trip downtown, 2 quarters in the meter, 1/4 mile walk, 3 escalators to the basement. Circle the numbers. Reverse.