Count on Me

The Trumpians continue with the canard that all votes must be counted by the end of election day. Needless to say, but I will anyway, for at least the first hundred years (from ancient American History class memory), the first 'automated' way to vote was some form of retained paper ballot.

Voting is the cornerstone of American democracy, but the United States Constitution doesn't say exactly how Americans should cast their ballots in elections. Article 1, Section 4 simply states that it's up to each state to determine "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections." Over the past 200 years, the mechanics of voting have evolved from open-air "voice votes" to touch screen digital consoles.

So when did sort of machine voting happen? According to this piece:

In the late 19th-century, Jacob H. Myers invented his lever-operated "Automatic Booth" voting machine, an engineering marvel that would come to dominate American elections from 1910 through 1980.

Another source has this to say:

By 1934, about a sixth of all presidential ballots were being cast on mechanical voting machines, essentially all made by the same manufacturer.

While I can't find a document with a date, it appears that 'instant' voting tabulation wasn't possible, nation wide, until WWII or even later.

So the Trumpians are fools, once again. What they choose to ignore: 1) 'calling' the election by AP (almost always) is based on recorded votes and expected results from unreported precincts (i.e., precinct Q in state Y has always voted Democrat, so the remaining votes will likely be Democrat) and 2) votes aren't certified by the states until weeks later (mostly) anyway. It's only the certified vote that determines who's President, not a loser concession speech. Certification dates are all over the calendar, from (in 2020) Nov. 5 to Dec. 11.

And we're still not done. The 'electors' vote on Dec. 14. That's what determines who won. So put on a pot of coffee and set a spell.