The campaigns are over and the votes have been cast, but counting them may take a while.

Our editorial page deadline fell before polls closed anywhere except tiny Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, where six voters, mirroring many recent polls, were evenly split between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. So we don’t know who the 47th president will be, or even whether Tuesday night’s results will produce a clear outcome in this tumultuous election.

But we have become accustomed to waiting.

In 2016, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, the race was not decided until the early hours of the next morning. Four years ago, the nation waited anxiously for four days before learning that Joe Biden had unseated Trump.

So be patient and dismiss any conspiracy theories. Judges rejected Trump’s fraud claims in 2020, and US election systems are even more secure in 2024.

Still, with about 150 million votes to be counted and races for thousands of offices to be decided across the country, counting the results takes time.

And that’s fine. Americans need a thorough and accurate count, not an instant result.

That’s true everywhere in voting.

In the March 5 primary election, Sonoma County saw several close races that were not decided until final results were released on March 29.

For the general election, Sonoma County mailed out about 307,000 ballots, with 124 different combinations of offices and measures. All ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within one week will be counted.

What happens after voting? At least two people are present when ballots are picked up at voting centers, drop boxes and post offices. Your signature on the envelope is compared to the signature on your voter registration card. If they do not match, you have the opportunity to resolve the conflict so that your vote does not go uncounted.

The actual counting takes place in a secure room and the counting machines are not connected to the Internet. They cannot be hacked.

Some states, including Pennsylvania, a key state in the presidential election, wait until polls close to begin processing ballots. With the increase in voting by mail, that slows down the count, but does not change the results. California counties process ballots as they arrive, so a substantial number can be counted immediately when the polls close. But that is not a final count.

According to the latest count before Election Day, about 152,000 ballots have been returned in Sonoma County. In Napa County, which mailed out about 85,000 ballots, about 37,000 were returned before Election Day. Final turnout is likely to be over 80%, meaning thousands more ballots will arrive in the coming days.

Election observers can observe how ballots are verified and counted. In Sonoma County, you can even watch online. After the initial count, random districts are counted to ensure accuracy. The voter registrar has 30 days to certify the results. The Secretary of State then has eight days to certify the state count. Only then will the results be definitive.

No one likes delays, but accurate results are essential for a health democracy. It’s worth waiting for.

You can send letters to the editor at [email protected].