On Election Day, hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters will head to the polls to vote. Late in the evening, local elections officials and volunteers will count those votes, along with absentee ballots, then announce the results.

But the electoral process is far from over.

In the days and weeks following November 5, it is possible that some will promote false information or make inaccurate statements about voting and counting procedures.

With that in mind, this overview aims to clarify how the process works in New Hampshire, outlining the steps in place to ensure voting and counting run smoothly here.

Here’s what to expect in the days and weeks after you deliver your ballot to your local election official.

How are the results compiled and announced?

On Election Day, polls will close at 7 p.m. in some New Hampshire communities, but will remain open until 8 p.m. in others. (You can find your local polling location and hours of operation here.)

When the polls close, more than 2,500 local poll workers – and thousands of other volunteers – will get to work counting the ballots. The majority of New Hampshire residents live in cities and towns that use electronic ballot counting machines, while more than 120 mostly smaller cities continue to count ballots manually.

“On Election Day, the process is a start to finish process,” Secretary of State David Scanlan told reporters at a news conference this week. “It’s continuous and it’s observable.”

In New Hampshire, ballot counting is open to all members of the public, and both major political parties appoint volunteers to help manage the process.

Once counting is complete, the election moderator at each polling location publicly announces the results, and the final tallies are posted inside the polling location.

“Voter confidence depends on their belief that their vote will be counted accurately,” Scanlan said. “And there’s no doubt that with the system we have in New Hampshire, the checks and balances that are in play, we have a great process to get this done.”

He noted that every person fills out a paper ballot in New Hampshire, which means there is a backup in case there is a problem with the automatic counters.

As local election results are announced publicly at polling stations, the media collate these tallies and begin reporting the results. Some media outlets – including the Associated Press, which NHPR relies on for official election results – will “call” races for candidates based on their own calculations, but these are not official results. Candidates can declare victory or concede a race, but this also carries no formal authority.

(On election night, NHPR will report results in real time as they are collated by the AP. You can watch them at nhpr.org.)

The next morning

Local election officials are expected to announce the results in their cities and towns late Tuesday night or perhaps in the early hours of Wednesday, November 6.

Under state law, a copy of each town’s “Vote Return” form reporting the results from each polling location is collected and transported by the New Hampshire State Police to the Secretary of State’s office. State in Concord, and a copy is also submitted electronically. The deadline for submitting these forms is 8 a.m. Wednesday, the day after the election.

Local moderators also have 48 hours after the polls close to send what’s called a “post-election certification” to the secretary of state’s office. This includes the number of voters who voted according to the checklist, as well as the number of spoiled and uncast ballots, and other information. This worksheet allows election officials, as well as interested members of the public, to reconcile the final results with the number of voters who participated in the election and the ballot inventory.

In the days following the election, the Secretary of State’s office will also conduct random audits of electronic counting devices to confirm the results, which will be open to the public. Eight randomly selected machines will be examined and a limited hand count of paper ballots will also be conducted. State law requires these audits to be completed by noon on the Friday following the election.

Tell

There are no automatic recounts for New Hampshire elections. If the difference between candidates is equal to or less than 20% of the total votes cast, the losing candidate may request a recount.

The deadline to request a recount this year is Friday, November 8 at 5 p.m. If history is any guide, recounts will be scheduled for the following week, but there is no prescribed timetable in state law.

The candidate who requests a recount must pay a fee, which declines depending on the proximity of the first results. Members of the public can observe recounts, and representatives of the major political parties are usually involved in the recount process. If the recount gives a count different from the initial count, this second number is recognized as the official result.

How does certification work?

There is no deadline for the formal certification of election results in New Hampshire, the final step in determining the winner of an election.

Scanlan, the secretary of state, said his office “aims to complete the process before the deadline to request a recount,” which is, again, the Friday after the election. His office will release final election results here.

Once the final results are announced — and any recounts or legal challenges are exhausted — Scanlan’s office will certify all state-level races, while the governor’s office will be responsible for certifying all federal races. In practice, the Secretary of State creates a physical certificate.

In early December, Scanlan will present the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections to the Executive Council in what his office considers a “recognition that the voting results were properly tabulated and reported.” However, the Secretary’s office was unable to point to any law requiring this vote by the Council to take place. In practice, therefore, this appears to be a ceremonial step.

The final piece of the puzzle is the Electoral College meeting, scheduled for December 17. Electors from the winning party in the presidential race will gather in all 50 states to officially vote, based on the popular vote totals in their home state. Then, on January 6, 2025, during a joint session of Congress, New Hampshire’s four electoral votes will be counted alongside the votes of other states.