CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — While President Donald Trump was able to pick up 38 electoral votes from Texas on Tuesday night, there still are several states across the country that are continuing to count ballots.
The delay in these states is because of a national increase in voter turnout, said KRIS 6 News political analyst David Smith.
“We saw it all across the country," he said. "In Nueces County, in Texas as a whole, higher than normal turn out has led to a huge pile or stacks of these ballots that have yet to be open and counted. We knew it was going to be higher than previous election years, but at this level of turnout, we had no expectation of this.”
In Corpus Christi and its surrounding counties, there have been clear victories, with only some local races headed to runoff elections. But in other states, the number of ballots received is impacting the release of the final results.
“Not only do we have the sheer higher-level turnout than we’ve had in the past, but you’ve also got a limited number of people who are coming in to count those ballots, and I guess the tools in the mechanisms with which to count them,” he said, noting that it’s far too late for counties that are overwhelmed to even consider purchasing additional election equipment, and that some election workers have been stretched thin.
“In some cases, [they’ve worked] 12, 18 hours, and they’re tired," he said. "And rather than making mistakes, they’re stopping their accounting process and going home and getting refreshed and coming back.”
Smith said he personally doesn’t expect any civil unrest to come about during the wait, and stressed the importance of waiting for all of the results.
“The more accurate they are now, the less contested it could be at a later point -- either through the legislatures, or through the court systems itself,” he said. “Accuracy is important and those votes being counted is just as important as if you casted in person."
“At the end of the day, if we don’t have it today, be patient, we’ll have it tomorrow or we’ll have it Friday, but let the process play out.”
Smith said he expects Michigan and Wisconsin to have their results out by this evening, but that Pennsylvania could take as long as Friday. Mail-in ballots will also be playing a role, he said.
Trump has already requested a recount from Wisconsin as Biden has a narrow lead of a little more than 20,500 votes from an estimated 99 percent of the state.
