7.0 Introduction
In December 2024, five long weeks after election day, the state of California finally completed counting the 16 million votes cast in the 2024 general election (La, 2025). Meanwhile, in the 2025 Ontario Provincial election, voters could see results within minutes of polls closing. Not long after 9:00 pm, voters knew Premier Ford would be reelected. Why the discrepancy? Why does California take so long to count votes? Conversely, how can Ontario election workers count 5 million votes in a few hours? The differences lie in the process used to count votes, which is something we will explore in this section.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Recall the steps involved in counting votes and reporting results
- Explain the record-keeping and reporting practices used to maintain accuracy
- Describe when a recount might take place
Things we need to know
In this chapter, you can expect to encounter the following terms/concepts.
- Processing
- Tabulating
- Rejected Ballots
- Recount
