Honestly, it feels like we’ve been here before. You wake up days after a big election—this time the January 2026 specials and early primary cycles—and the map is still a patchwork of "too close to call." You’re probably wondering why, in an era where we can beam 4K video from Mars, we can’t count a paper ballot in under a week.
The short answer? It’s not a glitch. It’s actually the law.
Right now, as we sit in mid-January, several states are still neck-deep in envelopes. It’s not just about "slow" workers; it's about a massive legal tug-of-war happening between state legislatures and the federal courts. Just this week, the Supreme Court dropped a bombshell in Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, basically saying candidates have the right to challenge these long counting windows.
If you’re refreshing your feed looking for finality, here is the ground reality of which states are still counting votes and why the "delay" is actually a feature of the system, not a bug.
The Big List: Where the Tabulators Are Still Humming
While most of the country has moved on to debating the 2026 midterms coming this November, a handful of states are still processing ballots from the most recent special elections and late-arriving mail-in votes.
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Illinois: The Eye of the Legal Storm
Illinois is the big one right now. By law, Illinois election officials have to count mail-in ballots that arrive up to 14 days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked on time. This has become a massive flashpoint. Representative Michael Bost took this all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that counting ballots two weeks late effectively turns "Election Day" into "Election Month."
Because the court just ruled that candidates like Bost have the standing to sue, expect the current count in Illinois to be scrutinized by a small army of lawyers. They aren't just counting; they're verifying postmarks with a magnifying glass.
California: The Slow and Steady Giant
California is basically the marathon runner of vote counting. They have a massive population and a "ballots-to-everyone" mail system. In the wake of Proposition 50 and the new congressional maps, every single vote in those swing districts—like the 13th and 45th—is being handled like a precious artifact.
California law allows ballots to be counted if they arrive within seven days of the election. Combine that with "ballot curing" (where officials contact you if your signature doesn't match), and you’ve got a recipe for a count that lasts weeks.
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Arizona and Nevada: The Desert Gridlock
If you’re looking at the Southwest, things are... complicated. Arizona recently added a new rule: county officials have to report the exact number of ballots dropped off on Election Day before they can even start tabulating them. In Maricopa County, which is already dealing with two-page ballots because of a ton of local measures, this has slowed everything to a crawl.
Nevada is in a similar boat. They accept ballots until the Friday after the election as long as they’re postmarked by Tuesday. If you’re waiting on results from Las Vegas, just grab a coffee. It's going to be a while.
Why Some States Finish in Hours While Others Take Weeks
It’s easy to look at Florida and ask, "Why can’t everyone do it like them?" Florida allows election workers to start scanning mail-in ballots weeks before the polls even open. By the time 8:00 PM hits on election night, they just have to press "enter."
But in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the legislature has repeatedly blocked efforts to allow this "pre-processing." In these states, workers can't even open an envelope until the morning of the election. Imagine having 500,000 letters to open and you can't start until 7:00 AM. You're going to be there all night—and probably the next three nights, too.
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The Postmark Problem
The USPS has changed how they route mail. Nowadays, a letter dropped in a local box might travel to a regional hub three cities away just to get a postmark before coming back. This is causing a "postmark lag" that election officials are struggling with.
- The 14-State Rule: About 14 states (including Alaska, New York, and West Virginia) will count your vote even if it arrives late, as long as that postmark is dated by Election Day.
- The "Received By" States: On the flip side, states like Ohio, Utah, and North Dakota have shifted. They now require ballots to be in the hands of officials by the time polls close. Period.
The "Red Mirage" and "Blue Shift"
You’ve probably heard these terms, and they’re more relevant in 2026 than ever. Because Democrats tend to use mail-in voting more frequently and Republicans often prefer in-person voting, the early results (in-person) often look very different from the final tally (mail-in).
This isn't "fraud"—it's just the order of operations. If you count the "fast" votes first and the "slow" votes second, the numbers are going to move. In states like Arizona, we often see the "Blue Shift" happen three or four days into the count.
What This Means for You (The Actionable Part)
Waiting for election results is stressful, but there are things you can do to stay informed without losing your mind.
- Check the "Curing" Status: If you voted by mail in a state like California or Arizona, check your state’s "Voter Power" or "My Vote" portal. If your signature didn't match, you might only have a few days to "cure" it (verify it's really you) so your vote actually counts.
- Ignore the "Percents": When a news site says "95% reporting," that often refers to precincts, not total ballots. A precinct might have reported its in-person totals but still have 2,000 mail-in ballots sitting in a tray.
- Follow the Secretary of State: Skip the secondary commentary on social media. Go straight to the official Secretary of State website for your specific state. They provide the raw data without the "spin."
- Prepare for Recounts: In states like Florida, official returns aren't even due until 13 days after the election. If the margin is under 0.5%, an automatic recount kicks in.
The bottom line is that the question of which states are still counting votes isn't going away. As long as we have a decentralized system where every state makes its own rules, we’re going to have a staggered finish line. It's messy, it's slow, and it's frustrating, but it's the system we’ve got.
If you're in Illinois, California, or Arizona, keep an eye on those local trackers. The final numbers are coming—just not as fast as your Twitter feed wants them to.