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Election Results Reporting

Helping America Vote

About the Quick Start Guides: The EAC's Quick Start Guides are intended to familiarize local election officials with various topics

they will likely encounter in election administration. The guides are a starting point to identify areas of concern and give officials a

broad idea of factors they should consider in approaching a given topic.

Election Results Reporting

Voters look to election officials for trusted information about election results. The public anticipates a timely and

efficient count of ballots. How election officials display and report election results can play a key role in

facilitating public confidence in election outcomes. The security and operation of the election night reporting

system are vital to prevent interference with reporting of unofficial results or system operation failure from

negatively impacting voter confidence. The practices described in this guide can help election officials to provide

election results to the public effectively. 

Website Features

Provide Clear, Concise Information. Explain the election reporting process in plain

language. Describe how ballots are tabulated and steps taken to ensure the security,

integrity, and accuracy of the initially reported unofficial results.

Display Election Information Visually. Charts and graphs can quickly convey key

information about the election and make the results easier to understand. Ensure

that all visual information is section 508 compliant so that all voters can access the

information.

Define Key Terms. Providing a glossary of election terms helps to clarify information

for the public.

Display Report Timestamps. Each results report should clearly show the date and

time the report was last updated.

Make Data Easy to Download. When possible, election results should be available

to download in common data formats. Many election systems provide detailed results

as .csv or .xml files.

Make the Data Easily Shareable. Help the public find your information by sharing

your election results on social media with links to help voters share your information.

Election results are unofficial until

canvassed. The purpose of the

canvass is to account for every voted

ballot and ensure that each valid

vote is included in the official results.

After the canvass is completed, the

results of the election will be audited.

This audit will review voted ballots to

confirm that the election results are

accurate before they are certified as

official.

Sample Website Text

Best Practices

Include information about which ballots (i.e., early voting, by-mail and

absentee, election day, provisional, write-in votes) are included in

each report and a general timeline of when to expect the next updates.

Display the approximate number of uncounted ballots each day from

election night until the final results are certified.

Plan for unexpected power outages, website failures, security

challenges, or technical problems so that voters, the media, and

candidates know how to find results if they cannot be posted on the

elections website.

Be consistent in reporting order if possible. Changing the order of

contests or candidates can create confusion.

Be transparent when reporting errors occur by providing written

information on websites and in press releases about differences in

vote totals. For example, if a number was transposed and the error

corrected, explain what happened and which reports were in error.

Times Cast: The number of

valid ballots cast and

counted in each contest.

Registration: The number of

citizens who were registered

and eligible to vote in the

election by the deadline.

Turnout: The total number of

voters who cast a ballot

divided by the total number

of registered voters.

Examples of Key Terms

May 1, 2022 v. 1.0 EAC | Helping America Vote

eac.gov clearinghouse@eac.gov @EACgov @eacgov1 @us.eac