Counties in 2 key states delay certifying election results, saying they must wait for more information.
Two key states are now delaying certifying election results in order to avoid a lawsuit from the Obama administration over how many states they plan to certify in the months after the election.
The Obama administration is concerned that if states are counted only based on preliminary numbers, then it will take longer for them to certify their election results. According to the Associated Press, the administration is concerned that states can request additional information from the counties to prove that they are in compliance with state and federal election laws.
Some counties aren’t giving extra information to the states’ requests.
In Georgia, two counties had a significant increase in registered voters, but the county elections office has not submitted any additional information to a state attorney general’s office that was recently looking at election results.
In North Carolina, two counties have notified the state about their voting issues.
North Carolina’s elections system was criticized after early voting data was wrong in parts of the state and a state judge ordered counties with improper data to submit proof of their voting systems. Several counties did not submit proof of their systems, and had to be certified by the courts.
The counties said they need the extra time to make corrections or address other issues with the data.
State election officials in North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma are also delaying certifying election results until the investigation into vote counting in several counties is complete.
The Texas Elections Commission is currently investigating vote counting in some 70 counties, while the Oklahoma State Board of Elections is investigating about 50 counties.
Two states that had a large increase in new voters during the early voting period are still awaiting certification of their results.
Virginia, for instance, needs two more days to review its data after early voting numbers on Monday surpassed the number of voters who cast ballots in the presidential election at the same time in 2012.
According to the Virginia Board of Elections’ website, at 8:48 a.m., 7,955,771 people voted in the early voting period.
That number is about four times the number of people who voted in the 2012 presidential primaries.
