How mail-in voting could delay results in the U.S. election for days — or weeks | CBC News

At least 70 million Americans have already cast ballots — a record — and about two thirds of them by mail, including in key battleground states.

North Carolina has seen nearly triple the number of mail-in votes so far. For the first time, voters in many states can cite the coronavirus as a reason to vote absentee by mail, or they can choose to cast absentee ballots without giving any reason at all.

More than two dozen states have also modified their absentee/mail-in voting rules in response to the pandemic, making it easier to vote by mail.

This includes everything from automatically sending out ballots to all eligible voters — whether they have requested them or not — to extending the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots. .

Add to the mix the fact that every state — and in some cases, counties within those states — has different rules about processing and counting mail-in ballots.

Five states have universal mail-in voting. Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington regularly mail out ballots to all registered voters and did so before COVID-19.

They are generally the states with the best practices around mail-in voting because of their experience in handling mail-in ballots. .

Only five states are still making it challenging for voters to vote by mail in 2020 by requiring a reason to do so, and COVID-19 is not considered a valid one.

The remaining 36 states are allowing voters to request mail ballots with no excuse necessary.

Despite the logical expectation that a mail-in ballot would have to go through the mail, there are actually a few different ways a mail-in ballot can be submitted.

And again, the rules around when ballots can be counted varies according to each state. While no state will divulge results before election day, here is when some key swing states are allowed to begin counting mail-in ballots:.

And something else to consider: this race is already regarded as the most litigated in American history, due in large part to the massive expansion of mail and absentee voting.

As of this writing, 22 states plus the District of Columbia will count mail-in ballots received after election day, providing they are postmarked on or before Nov.

Some states have made changes to their normal laws for the 2020 election because of COVID-19 and the anticipated greater numbers of mail-in ballots. .

Key battleground states that will count ballots received after Nov.

The other 28 states will not accept any mail-in ballots that arrive after Nov.

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that regularly send voters two envelopes to return their ballots for all elections, including primaries or state-level votes. Voters must first put their completed ballot into a so-called secrecy envelope and then put that envelope into an outer addressed envelope before mailing it.

Given the high number of people voting by mail this year, many of the states that use secrecy envelopes are waiving the requirement or say they will count votes without them anyway.