The election outcome won’t be settled when the polls close on November 5. The results we see that night will just be preliminary — official totals take weeks to finalize through a careful, multistep counting process. Our detailed guide breaks down the 10 main steps involved, from counting ballots to double-checking results and certifying the final tallies. Over the past four years, some states have implemented new rules to speed up their counting processes, while others have introduced changes that could cause delays. Regardless of how quickly results are reported, voters can rest assured that robust safeguards at every stage will ensure an accurate and trustworthy vote count.