Two-thirds of Americans do not believe that the country will definitively know who won the presidential election on election night, a Politico/Morning Consult survey released this week revealed.
Only 20 percent of those surveyed believe that the winner of the November 3, 2020, election will be announced on the night of the election, while 66 percent indicated that it will happen after. Specifically, 19 percent believe the results will come the day after election night, 26 percent within a week of election night, and 10 percent within two weeks of election night.
Six percent predict the results will come within a month of election night, while 5 percent say it will take over a month to get the final results. Fourteen percent said they did not know or held no opinion on the matter.
The survey, conducted September 25-27 among 1,986 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.
The news comes as the GOP battles key swing states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, over various extensions for counting mail-in ballots after election day — decisions which could, effectively, delay the results.
A Michigan judge ruled this month that mail-in ballots postmarked by November 2 must be counted up to two weeks after the election.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens’ ruling also authorized the use of ballot harvesting, although it limited the action to a specific timeframe, as Breitbart News detailed.
When asked if all mail-in ballots “that are sent by their state’s deadline will be received by the state board of elections on time,” 47 percent of respondents of the Politico/Morning Consult poll said they were very or somewhat confident. Forty-three percent said they were either not that confident or not confident at all.