Election Day is almost here and the end of this tumultuous campaign season can’t come soon enough. But it might not come Tuesday night.

Given that the race for president is expected to be close, it is entirely possible that Americans will have to wait days to learn whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump will be the next commander in chief. Vote counting can take a while, and — despite what bad faith actors might suggest — that’s not a problem. A healthy democracy can afford to be meticulous in counting every vote and patiently awaiting accurate results.

In 2020, Trump cynically and dangerously claimed that legitimate delays in counting a record number of mail-in ballots were evidence of fraud, and claimed Democrats were “trying to steal the election.” Trump’s lies were debunked and rejected by judges in numerous lawsuits, but his disinformation campaign was convincing thousands of people to appear at his “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021, and storm the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.

This year, election officials (including both Republicans and Democrats) have tried to adjust expectations about how quickly votes can be counted in an effort to quell conspiracy theories.

Here are the facts:

• More states, including California, have expanded the use of ballots and ballot drop boxes, which are more convenient for voters. Counting these ballots takes longer because election staff verify signatures on ballot envelopes against state records.
• States have different rules that can affect the speed of their counts. For example, Pennsylvania does not allow election workers to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day. North Carolina will require a photo ID to vote this year, which is expected to increase the number provisional ballots which must be investigated to determine eligibility, which takes time.

• In 2020, Trump made the absurd and laughably ignorant claim that ballots counted after Election Day are not legitimate. Election officials will not — and should not — stop counting votes after 11:59 PM on Tuesday. That would be impractical and unfair. And no elections have ever been certified on Election Day.
• Some politicians, pundits and even media outlets may choose to call a race based on early returns, but that is often irresponsible. Results may change as ballots are counted. In the 2018 midterm elections, Republican candidates had early returns in some key congressional races in California. That turned out to be a ‘red mirage’: when all the ballots were counted, the Democrats won the seats and control of the House. At the time, some Republicans suggested the reversal of fortunes was indicative of some form of election misconduct. It wasn’t. Election officials were just doing their job and making sure every vote was counted.

This is a politically charged moment. Foreign powers and opportunists have already spread disinformation to undermine confidence in the elections. Last week, US intelligence agencies blamed Russia for a viral video in which a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgian IDs claims to have voted multiple times. Russia is also said to be responsible for a fake video claiming to show someone destroying ballots marked for Trump in Pennsylvania.

That’s why it’s so important to rely on facts, verifiable information, and reliable sources like the National Assn. of secretaries of state, whose members direct the elections, and to be a critical consumer of social media, where so many false claims circulate.

This year’s elections will test Americans and our democratic institutions. Let’s do everything we can to ensure we succeed.