In many localities NO absentee ballots are counted unless there are enough of them to make a difference in any one race on the ballot.
So for a given area let’s say there are only 100 absentee ballots, but the closest race is 500 votes apart, the ballots are ignored. But let’s say the race for city council is only 50 votes apart, then ALL ballots are counted for ALL races, not just for the city council race.
This is quite common and the policy in many localities. I still believe to this day that the George W. Bush won the popular vote in 2000 IF THE MILITARY VOTES HAD BEEN COUNTED. The Florida votes were running 2/3 in favor of Bush. The diffeerence was 543,982 votes througout the country. How many absentee votes weren’t counted because they wouldn’t have made a difference in the race? Not that it matters. The electoral was the only one that mattered.
Still I was disappointed that my military vote was probably never counted in my home state until I left the military and started voting in person.
