VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — People early voting may have noticed lines in recent weeks across Hampton Roads. So far, more than 1.5 million people have voted early.
"It was not too long at all. I got through it in about 20 minutes, maybe even less," a voter in Virginia Beach told News 3 recently.
"I thought early voting was great for me. I've got a work event, so it helps manage that time," another voter said.
Watch: City of Chesapeake set up satellite voting locations to combat long voting lines
With Election Day approaching, News 3 spoke with voters and election officials about the process of counting and securing votes.
Voters in Virginia are using paper ballots and then feeding them into voting machines that are not connected to the internet.
There are also mail-in ballots, which voters can mail back once filled out or they can drop them off in a drop box in front of the Registrar's Office.
Watch: Despite lower overall early voting in Virginia, Virginia Beach sees record numbers
"It has 24-hour surveillance. We have someone watching the cameras. We only have one key," said Christine Lewis, the city's Director of Elections. "Only two people from my office go out there and secure ballots and we have them secured in a vault."
Polls will close at 7 p.m. on Election Night in Virginia.
"We'll hit a button that closes the polls and once we do, the machine is going to start putting together the report and the tape will run and it will list the candidates and how many ballots it read for each candidate," said Walt Latham, York County's Registrar.
Latham says some absentee ballots will be counted by hand, like ballots from service members overseas and mail-in ballots if they were partially ripped when the envelope was opened.
He says they're hoping unofficial results will be ready by about 10 p.m. in the county on Election Night.
Watch: Virginia asks US Supreme Court to reinstate removals of 1,600 voter registrations
"I think people can trust the machine. I certainly do," he said.
Virginia Beach is hoping to have results by about 11:30 p.m.
From there, starting the next day—election officials will work to canvass the results, which is the process of ensuring they're accurate before certifying the results to the State Board of Elections, who will then certify it themselves.
Voters in North Carolina will also use paper ballots and put them into voting machines that are not connected to the internet to be counted.
Watch: Dare County, NC sees heavy early voting turnout in first week
Polls there are open until 7:30 p.m. "The vast majority of results, unofficial on Election Night, from all 100 counties will show up between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Of course, there might be situations where we might be a little later into the night," said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections.
While the western part of the state continues to recover from Helene, election officials don't think that will delay results.
"We do not anticipate any issues getting votes in on Election Night in any county across the state," said Brinson Bell.
Back in Virginia Beach, voters News 3 spoke with say they trust the process.
"You gotta have faith. You gotta have faith. You can't have doubt," said one.
"I felt very secure, very private," another said.
