While the winners of many political races will likely be called on Election Night, according to elections officials it may take several more days before we know the results of Maryland’s tightest races — especially with a few hundred thousand mail-in ballots left to count.

This election cycle saw a strong turnout for early in-person voting, and people voting by mail have requested more than 880,000 ballots.

State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said he understands the expectation to have results on Election Night, but the state and local boards are dedicated to completing their mission to count every vote.

“We’re not in the business of making projections; we’re in the business of counting,” he said on the second-to-last day of early voting.

While we wait for those results, here are a few things to keep in mind.

What will we know on Election Night?

Elections officials will release some results Tuesday after the polls close. We’ll see the tallies from mail-in ballots already counted, early in-person voting and in-person Election Day votes.

Polls close Tuesday after the last person in line at 8 p.m. has voted.

How long we wait depends on how long the line is at the cutoff time, said Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

Her nonpartisan, nonprofit democracy watchdog dispatches volunteers to polling places across the state. This year more than 180 Common Cause Maryland poll monitors will be at voting locations flagging issues for judges, such as a need for more disabled parking spots, and answering voter questions.

But many votes can’t be counted until after the election, including later-arriving mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and provisional ballots.

When do mail-in ballots get counted?

Election officials started counting mail-in ballots Oct. 15, as allowed by state law, and will release what they have counted so far after polls close Tuesday.

That counting picks back up a few days after Election Day because mail-in ballots postmarked or placed in drop boxes before 8 p.m. must be counted.

Some of Maryland’s tightest elections may come down to those mail-in counts, which can take time. As of Saturday night, more than 320,000 mail ballots had been received out of more than 880,0000 sent to voters.

“With more and more people voting by mail, there’s going to be elections that can’t be called on Election Night,” Antoine said. About 40% of all ballots cast during the primary this year were by mail.

Even if a winner in a certain race has been called, every vote is counted and added to the totals.

When is everything final?

All ballots will be counted by end of day Nov. 15. After that, the results will go through the final certification process.

When was early voting this year?

Maryland’s early voting period ran from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. Nearly 1 million Marylanders showed up in person to vote at polling places across the state.

What’s a provisional ballot?

Provisional ballots are cast if there’s uncertainty around an individual’s vote. For example, a voter showed up at the wrong polling place and a poll worker couldn’t find their name on the list. Or someone requested a mail ballot and then showed up to vote in person. Antoine said provisional votes are common. More than 100,000 provisional ballots, or about 3.6% of all ballots, were cast in Maryland in the last presidential election.

Canvassers closely examine each provisional ballot and ensure legitimacy before including them in the count. If there are questions, canvassers can ask their local election board’s legal counsel.

Local board members start counting provisional ballots on Nov. 13.

Who counts the ballots?

Every county and Baltimore have a local board of canvassers who count the ballots. The Republican and Democratic parties are represented on the canvassing boards, and members from each must attend the canvasses.

Antoine has watched a handful of canvasses in person. She said the process is transparent and nonpartisan. Voters, she said, “should feel secure that people are representing their interests during the canvassing to ensure every eligible vote is counted.”

Some local boards of elections host livestreams of the canvass. Check your local board’s website for more information.