That’s the story at Military Times.
Could absentee ballots coming from military voters and U.S. citizens overseas still make a difference in this election, even after most of the counting is done?
That remains to be seen, with the changing margins of votes. In four of the states that are still in play for the president’s race, election officials allow absentee ballots from military voters and overseas citizens to arrive after Election Day. That includes Pennsylvania, which requires those ballots to be signed by Nov. 2, but can arrive up until 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.
Wisconsin and Michigan were still up in the air as of this writing, but those military and overseas votes had to be in to election officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The military and overseas ballots could also be a factor in some close Senate races.
The Military Times article by Karen Jowers has some numbers on some of the key remaining states still counting, and how they can be a factor. It’s not just the military either; it also includes the absentee ballots of other U.S. citizens overseas.
...in the 2016 presidential election, Pennsylvania counted a total of 22,327 ballots from these voters, to include 7,788 military ballots, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
As the votes are slowly counted and margins narrow, could votes from the military and Americans overseas make the difference?
Overall in 2016, there were 252,574 military absentee ballots counted by all the states; and 382,896 absentee ballots from U.S. citizens overseas, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
...In 29 states and the District of Columbia, their laws and rules allow election officials to count ballots that arrive after the polls close from military, their family members, and U.S. citizens overseas, according to an analysis conducted for the Count Every Hero campaign. That organization has cautioned news organizations, candidates and election officials
about declaring winners before the military vote is counted.
For those people urging that no absentee ballots be counted that weren’t already received by Election Day, for those who say the vote counting should be stopped now, ask them what would they say to people who are putting their lives on the line for this country and can’t vote in person back home.
There’s also the question of service members and their families who are in the U.S. but have been recently transferred to a new post or are on temporary duty away from home. Getting registered to vote, getting an absentee ballot to vote, matters to them as well.
Every vote counts, and every vote must be counted.