Allow early ballot processing; wait until all are counted to make public

Given the huge increase in absentee ballots being cast for the election in November, it is crucial that local clerks are given the ability to start pre-processing these ballots before election day and continue to process ballots that have been postmarked by election day. This way, counting ballots can begin promptly and efficiently as polls open, and preliminary results should not be made public until all ballots have been accurately counted. This is especially necessary as the USPS is struggling under mismanagement and the Covid-19 pandemic, causing delays in mail delivery, and the President's rhetoric attempting to undermine confidence in election day activity. Ensuring every vote is counted is the basic foundation of democracy, and our legislature should be actively working to improve our local clerks' ability to process and count ballots.

First sent on September 23, 2020 by Samuel