The results of elections determine the winners in electoral contests and — in some cases — allocate seats in multi-member legislative bodies. It can take days, even weeks after Election Day to finalize ballot counting (including re-examination and re-tabulation) and to certify results. State or territorial law sets the deadlines for when this process happens.
A timely, unified process for publicly posting results ensures that all votes are counted accurately and is transparent to the public. It increases the credibility of and trust in the election process.
This includes publishing results in a way that is easily accessible to representatives of political parties, civic organizations, and the media. This enables observers to compare official results with their own observation findings and verify that the will of voters was respected.
Providing information on how to contact polling stations also enables voters to report irregularities. This enables election officials to follow up and remedy them.
Specific rules – such as an electoral threshold that prevents a candidate or party from getting any seats — should be clearly stated in any official results and the point at which a candidate or party is declared winner should be visible at a glance to avoid confusion. This allows consumers of election polling data, including candidates, campaign strategists, and political journalists, to make more informed decisions on how to interpret the data.