FACT CHECK: Final election results in Texas may not be available for a few more days

See something you want the Star-Telegram to fact check? Use the form below to send us your question.

Many on social media sites have been sharing false or misleading takes on the election, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

A statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explaining how ballots are counted — “We may not know all the winners of elections for a few days. It takes time to count all legitimate ballots in a legal and orderly manner. That’s how this is supposed to work.” — was challenged by Cruz Monday with a tweet saying, “nope. it’s not.”

Early Tuesday morning, Southlake Mayor John Huffman tweeted: “Here’s a tip — anyone telling you to not expect to see the results of today’s elections “for a few days” is TELLING YOU THEY ARE PLANNING TO CHEAT.”

What Cruz and Huffman said are false and misleading: Some results will be available tonight, but final election results will not be available for a few more days. Here is how ballots are received and counted in Texas.

How ballots are counted in Tarrant County

A majority of Texans tend to vote early by mail through an absentee ballot or in person at an early voting location.

When Election Day polls close at 7 p.m., counties first begin reporting early vote totals. In recent elections there’s been a delay reporting results due to a software glitch, but Tarrant County Election Administrator Heider Garcia isn’t expecting related issues Tuesday.

Once all early vote totals are in, including both in-person early votes and mail-in ballots cast before Election Day, counties then begin reporting results from Election Day. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to arrive, and mail ballots from military voters and U.S. citizens overseas should arrive by Monday, Nov. 14.

By law, counties are required to report full unofficial results within 24 hours of polls closing. Within 72 hours, each election office must begin conducting a partial manual count to ensure the votes were tabulated accurately, using votes from 1% of precincts or three precincts, whichever is greater.

That count must be completed by the 21st day after Election Day.

Most votes are typically counted within four to five hours of polls closing across the state, with remaining votes verified over the following days, according to the Associated Press. In the 2020 election, more than half of all votes were counted within 75 minutes of polls closing.

Ballot counting in Texas usually doesn’t take long because so much of the state votes early. In the 2020 election, a record 87% of ballots were cast during early voting. It’s also because counties with 100,000 or more residents are allowed to start tallying early votes once the early voting period ends. But the results cannot be announced until after the polls close on Election Day. Counties with smaller populations start counting when polls open on Election Day.

When will election results be announced?

Unless a race is too close to call, most winners are determined by 1 a.m. CST.

As soon as polls close, the Star-Telegram will be monitoring the Election Night Returns portal for results on election night. Our regularly updated reporting will cover the latest developments and numbers in county and state races, as well as a number of federal and local races.

The Star-Telegram will let readers know when a candidate has declared victory or offered a concession, and when the AP has called a race. The Associated Press will make calls on races after 8 p.m. CST. The AP will declare winners in 174 contested elections in Texas, including seven statewide races, most notably for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, and 38 U.S. House races.

When do recounts happen in Texas?

Recounts are mandatory in Texas when there is a tie. A recount can also be requested and paid for by the loser when the difference between candidates is less than 10% of the winning candidate’s vote or if the total votes in a race are less than 1,000 among all candidates.

How to track your mail ballot

To track the status of your mail-in ballot, use the Secretary of State’s Ballot by Mail Tracker app, available through txballot.org. Enter your voter information into the fields provided, including your name, the last four digits of your social security, your driver’s license number and your address. Another way to track your ballot in Tarrant County is through the Voter Lookup. Once you plug in your information, it’ll tell you whether your ballot has been received and approved.