离选举日只有一天了，美国人何时会知道2020年选举结果的问题选举是最重要的，因为特朗普总统坚持认为结果必须在星期二晚上公布。
但是俄亥俄州的共和党国务卿Frank LaRose在美国广播公司新闻“动力政治”播客中强调“选举之夜的结果永远不会是最终的”。
“选举之夜是一个盛大的真人秀节目，每个人都可以在选举之夜睡觉，知道谁赢谁输，这只是一个有缺陷的想法，这不是它的工作方式，”拉罗斯在周一接受播客共同主持人美国广播公司新闻首席白宫记者乔纳森·卡尔和政治总监里克·克莱恩的采访时说。
特朗普一再声称，选举的获胜者必须在选举日晚上知道，他周日在爱荷华州的一次集会上说，“我们应该知道11月3日，11月3日晚上的选举结果。事情就是这样，也应该是这样。”
虽然美国人已经习惯于在选举之夜知道获胜者，但拉罗斯说，特别是今年，由于缺席投票的涌入，今年“对谁会赢谁会输做出相当安全的假设”的能力可能是不可能的，不仅仅是在俄亥俄州，而是在全国范围内。
他补充说，“我们关注的真正的最后期限是在11月28日之前完成全州最终结果的认证，然后在12月14日安排我们的选举团...因为这个过程就是这样进行的。”
LaRose吹捧俄亥俄州在大日子之前处理缺席选票的系统，指出通常在投票结束后计算的“第一批”选票是缺席选票和亲自提前投票。
“与其他州相比，俄亥俄州有一个非常好的系统。如果你看看我们的一些邻近州，比如宾夕法尼亚州、密歇根州，甚至威斯康星州，在这些州和其他州，他们甚至不能开始处理缺席选票，他们不能在选举日之前打开信封。在俄亥俄州，我们已经这样做了四个星期了，”他说。
在密歇根州，人口至少为25，000人的城市的职员给予一些缓解为此，允许在周一开始10个小时的处理期，但总的来说，三个“蓝墙”声明总统唐纳德·特朗普就快速处理邮寄选票而言，2016年获胜的州是这个周期中最不利的州。
LaRose说，县选举官员已经能够打开退回的邮件选票，检查选民的登记和签名，这也给官员更多的时间联系选民，并给他们一个机会，如果有问题，纠正他们的选票。
“在选举之夜，俄亥俄州统计的第一批选票几乎都是缺席和提前投票...所以，就在7:30投票结束时，选举委员会可以开始制表程序。
拉罗斯告诉播客联合主持人卡尔和克莱恩，当选举结果在晚上8点或8点15分开始公布时，主要是这些投票，然后在晚上晚些时候，更多的选举日投票将会到来。
国务卿说，今年，他的办公室将在选举之夜报道网站的顶部突出显示未决缺席投票的数量。这一关键数字可能有助于召集竞选，因为根据俄亥俄州的法律，缺席投票要到11月13日才到期，只要他们在周一之前邮戳，但官员们将肯定知道还有多少潜在的选票可以被退回。
拉罗斯预计投票率会很高，并表示这次选举可能是该州第一次有600万选民参加选举。
“我们已经看到提前投票的人数是之前的三倍，缺席投票的人数是现在的两倍...我们已经看到超过310万份缺席投票申请，收到了超过210万张选票，这些数字又是几天前的了，”国务卿说。“我认为，到明天早上6:30投票开始时，俄亥俄州有一半以上的选票已经投出，这是完全可能的。”
2016年，560万选民，即71%的登记选民在俄亥俄州投票，拉罗斯说这是“非常高的投票率”。
LaRose间接反驳了总统经常重复的谈话要点，他说，虽然缓慢的第三方供应商存在一些问题，他说这是“令人失望的”和“不应该发生的”，但他认为缺席投票“没有欺诈活动”。
“由于它涉及任何与缺席投票相关的欺诈行为，这种情况极为罕见。这种情况时有发生，你知道，偶尔会发生，当这种情况发生时，我们会认真对待，”国务卿说，并指出过去曾有人被移交起诉。
就像冠状病毒一样再次增加该县的每日诊断总数创造了新的记录，LaRose谈到了适当的安全预防措施，以及如果选民不带口罩去投票会发生什么。
他说，他的办公室“配备了大量个人防护设备”，包括口罩、消毒剂、消毒湿巾和面罩。每个投票站都将有口罩提供给选民。
如果一个投票者星期二不带面具去投票，这个人会得到一个面具。如果他或她拒绝戴面具，他们将可以选择在路边投票，由宣誓选举官员组成的两党小组将为他们填写一张选票，然后在投票结束后，选票被放入信封，并带到投票站进行扫描。
但是，如果选民拒绝做这两件事，他们的投票权就不能被剥夺，因此选举官员将尽最大努力保持社会距离，并为无面具选民投票创造“足够的空间”。在那之后，机器将被擦干净。
拉洛斯说了他们希望避免局势升级的话。
“那些不戴面具或其他任何东西就来有意制造麻烦的人，我们不想给他们想要的关注。他说:“在这里没什么可看的，我们会让你投票，让你以安全和距离的方式出门。”
他补充说，“真正负责任的做法是戴上你的口罩，或者拿走我们提供的口罩。”
Ohio secretary of state stresses 'election night results are never final'
With just one day until Election Day, the question of when Americans will know the results of the 2020electionis top of mind, asPresident Trump insistsresults must be in on Tuesday night.
But Ohio's Republican Secretary of StateFrank LaRosestressed that "election night results are never final" on the ABC News "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.
"This idea that election night is sort of this grand reality TV show where everybody gets to go to bed on election night knowing who won and who lost is just a flawed construct that's not the way it works," LaRose said during an interview Monday with podcast co-hosts ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the winner of the election must be known on election night, saying during a rally in Iowa Sunday, "We should know the result of the election on November 3rd, the evening of November 3rd. That’s the way it's been and that's the way it should be."
While Americans have become accustomed to knowing the winner on election night, LaRose said that this year in particular, due to the influx in absentee ballots, the ability to "make a pretty safe assumption about who's going to win or who's going to lose" may not be possible this year, not just in Ohio, but across the country.
He added, "The real deadline that we're focused on is getting that certification done of the final statewide results by the 28th of November, and then seating our electoral college on the 14th of December ... because that's that's the way the process plays out."
LaRose touted Ohio's system for processing absentee ballots ahead of the big day, noting that usually the 'very first' ballots counted after polls close are the absentee and in person early votes.
"Ohio has a really good system compared to other states. If you look at some of our neighboring states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, even up in Wisconsin, in those states and others they can't even begin processing absentee ballots, they can't cut the envelopes open until Election Day. In Ohio, we've already been doing that for four weeks," he said.
In Michigan, clerks in municipalities with populations of at least 25,000 people weregranted some relieffor this, allowed to start the processing for a 10-hour period Monday, but overall, the three "Blue Wall" states that PresidentDonald Trumpwon in 2016 are the most disadvantage among the battleground states this cycle when it comes to processing mail ballots quickly.
LaRose said that county election officials have been able to open returned mail ballots and check voters' registration and signatures, which also gives officials more time to contact voters and give them an opportunity to cure their ballots if there is an issue.
"On election night, the very first ballots counted in Ohio are almost always the absentee and early votes ... so right at 7:30 when the polls close, the boards of elections can begin the tabulation process," he said.
LaRose told podcast co-hosts Karl and Klein that when election results start coming at 8 p.m. or 8:15 p.m., it's largely going to be these votes, and then later in the night, more of the Election Day vote will come in.
The secretary said this year, his office will be highlighting the number of outstanding absentee ballots at the top of their election night reporting website. This key figure could help with calling races, as absentee ballots aren't due until Nov. 13 under Ohio state law, as long as they are postmarked by Monday, but officials will know for certain how many potential ballots could still be returned.
LaRose predicted strong turnout, and said this election could be the first time the state has 6 million voters participate in an election.
"We've seen fully a tripling in the previous numbers for early voting and a doubling in the number of absentee votes so at this point right now... we've seen over 3.1 million absentee ballot applications received over 2.1 million ballots cast and again those numbers are a few days old," the secretary said. "I think that it's entirely possible that by the time the polls open at 6:30 tomorrow morning that more than half the ballots will have been already cast in Ohio."
In 2016, 5.6 million voters, or 71% of registered voters, turned out in Ohio, which LaRose said was "very high turnout."
Indirectly countering the president's oft-repeated talking points, LaRose said that while there were some issues with slow third-party vendors, which he said was "disappointing" and "shouldn't have happened," he's seen "nothing as far as fraudulent activity" with absentee ballots.
"As it relates to any kind of fraud related to absentee voting, that's exceedingly rare. It happens, you know, occasionally and when it does happen we take it seriously," the secretary said, noting that people have been referred for prosecution in the past.
As coronavirus cases areincreasing again acrossthe county, and the total daily diagnoses setting new records, LaRose talked about the safety precautions in place and what would happen if a voter shows up to the polls without a mask.
He said his office has "fielded massive quantities of personal protective equipment," including masks, sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and face shields. There will be masks available to give to voters at every polling place.
If a voter shows up to vote Tuesday without a mask, the person will be offered a mask. If he or she refuses to wear the mask, they will be given the option to vote curbside, where a bipartisan team of sworn election officials will bring a ballot for them to fill out, and then after the voter is done, that ballot gets put into an envelope and take it into the polling place to be scanned.
But if the voter refuses to do both of these things, they cannot be denied their right to vote, so the elections officials will do their best to maintain social distancing, and create "ample space" for the maskless voter to cast their vote. The machine will be wiped down following that.
LaRose said what they hope to avoid escalating the situation.
"Folks that are coming to intentionally make a scene by voting without a mask or whatever else, we don't want to give them the attention they're looking for. It's kind of a nothing to see here we're gonna get you voted and get you out the door, in a safe and distance way," he said.
He added, "Really the responsible thing to do is to wear your mask or to take the one that we offer."
