Generally, preliminary numbers, yes. Here’s a recording from 2019 elections in Canada. The last seat was determined 4 hours and 44 minutes later, and that is u

Generally, preliminary numbers, yes. Here’s a recording from 2019 elections in Canada. The last seat was determined 4 hours and 44 minutes later, and that is unusually delayed, but still a record time compared to U.S. counts: https://youtu.be/GYrY_945co0 https://youtu.be/GYrY_945co0 Of course it might vary by population, but it shouldn’t need to be this inefficient to run or count advance votes, etc. Elections Canada might also make a difference rather than going state by state. And we don’t have a step after where votes are cast, etc., instead it’s a simple first past the post system. Some background: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-votes-2019-election-day-vote-counting-1.5322009 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-votes-2019-election-... https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&document=faqelec&lang=e#a7 https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&do... As a Canadian I’d often watch as polls close in different time zones and then roughly a half hour later, results trickle in. Usually within the first two or three hours, up to half the country’s votes, by population (at least), have been counted and results shared — even as polls are still closing in other parts. It’s expected that by 2am at the latest you could usually know the outcome, even in a contested race. The exception would be minority governments, which can form their own majority from coalitions over the next few days after a Canadian election. And they do still count all the votes by hand in Canada. This kind of vote count inefficiency reminds me of tax code inefficiencies. Just because taxes are complicated to file in the U.S. does not mean it has to be that way in the rest of the world! :)