Aug 31, 2026 · 19 min · 12 segments
When most people think about elections, they think about candidates, campaigns and Voting Day. But have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes to make an election possible? On the latest…
Caitlin Salter-MacDonaldGuest
Natalie LemireHostTom PakloffHost
So tell me, how far in advance does this work start and when does it end? Because election results are not official the day of the election, right? Although they are announced on the day of.
do our best to make sure that the unofficial results are published as soon as possible on our website.
They're unofficial because there is a process to be verified by an external auditor before they're declared official.
So if you're talking about when did the work for the 2026 election start, pretty much right after the 2022 election wrapped up.
We talked about voting places and the number of voting places that we need.
That work to establish and organize voting places started in early 2024.
And when does it end? It's actually not when we certify the results.
The work to follow up the election continues for months and sometimes years.
Continues after voting day, including a lot of work related to the financial statements and processes for the candidates and third party advertisers and supporting the election compliance audit committee.
Kind of working on two elections at the same time, wrapping up one while you're starting the next one.

So tell me, how far in advance does this work start and when does it end? Because election results are not official the day of the election, right? Although they are announced on the day of.
do our best to make sure that the unofficial results are published as soon as possible on our website.
They're unofficial because there is a process to be verified by an external auditor before they're declared official.
So if you're talking about when did the work for the 2026 election start, pretty much right after the 2022 election wrapped up.
We talked about voting places and the number of voting places that we need.
That work to establish and organize voting places started in early 2024.
And when does it end? It's actually not when we certify the results.
The work to follow up the election continues for months and sometimes years.
Continues after voting day, including a lot of work related to the financial statements and processes for the candidates and third party advertisers and supporting the election compliance audit committee.
Kind of working on two elections at the same time, wrapping up one while you're starting the next one.
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