The results you see on election night are not official. Here's how official results work
In the hours — and perhaps even days — following Election Day, you'll see media outlets calling the presidential race in Wisconsin for either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
These calls are based on unofficial election results that each county reports in the hours after polls close on Nov. 5. Media outlets, like the Associated Press, call a race only when vote returns indicate that it is statistically impossible for anyone but one candidate to win — which is why you might see a race called before all of the votes cast are reported.
However, while these race calls are often accurate, they are not official election results. The official results take a lot longer to count, certify, check and double check. In Wisconsin, this weekslong process happens in three parts:
Counting: On Election Day, election workers throughout the state will count votes at each polling place and, if applicable, central count location.
Canvassing: In the weeks following Election Day, vote totals are compiled and checked at the municipal, county and state levels.
Certification: About a month after Election Day, the Wisconsin Election Commission examines results from each county and reports the official election results, which includes the total number of votes cast for each candidate.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of how Wisconsin certifies its election results and when we'll know the official results of the November election.
Election night: Poll workers count votes, counties report unofficial results
Immediately after polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, election inspectors start tabulating the returns, or results, for all votes cast at their polling place, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission.
After the votes are counted, the election inspectors report these unofficial results to local clerks. The local clerks must report results to county clerks no more than two hours after votes are counted.
Then, no more than two hours after they receive the returns from municipal clerks, county clerks must post all unofficial election results on their county website. In counties like Milwaukee, which use a central count system, this may take until the early morning hours of Nov. 6, and all the absentee ballot results will be posted simultaneously.
By Nov. 11: municipalities certify their results
By 9 a.m. on Nov. 11, a board of canvassers must convene in each municipality to begin certifying election results.
Who's on this board? It varies: if a municipality has only one polling place, the poll workers make up the board of canvassers. These municipalities also must conduct their canvass on election night, not the Monday after the election like other localities.
In municipalities with multiple polling places, the board consists of the local clerk and two qualified voters of the municipality, who are appointed by the clerk. In Milwaukee, the city's board of election commissioners serve as the local board of canvassers.
After double checking the vote returns from each polling place, the board must certify official election results for its municipality by 4 p.m. on Nov. 11.
By Nov. 19: counties certify their results
After the municipal certification, comes the county one.
A board of canvassers must convene in all 72 of Wisconsin's counties by 9 a.m. on Nov. 12. In most counties, the county clerk and two qualified voters of the county, appointed by the clerk, sit on the board. In Milwaukee, however, the county board of election commissioners serve as the board.
The county board reviews and checks all the election results filed by municipal clerks. These meetings are open to the public for observation.
By Nov. 19, two weeks after Election Day, each county board must certify its general election results and deliver them to the Wisconsin Election Commission.
By Dec. 1: Wisconsin Elections Commission releases final results
After receiving county-by-county results, the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission has about two weeks to triple check the vote returns and certify statewide results.
By Dec. 1, the Elections Commission will announce final Wisconsin election results.
By Dec. 20: Voter data available online
A few weeks after official results are released, municipal clerks have to submit voter participation data to WisVote, Wisconsin's online voter information portal.
The portal allows any person to look up a record of their participation in past elections, granted they submit a full name and date of birth that corresponds with a currently registered Wisconsin voter. It does not include information about who you voted for, but rather just if and where you voted in each election.
This data will be available on Dec. 20. You can find it under "My Voter Info" on WisVote.
More: How late will you have to stay up for election results in Wisconsin?
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election certification: how votes are counted, canvassed
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