[kingu]

Absentee ballots still use the old punch card system, how long does it take for a machine to count punch cards ? Answer, a few seconds at most per thousand.

Actually, the most time intensive thing is verifying the signatures on the ballots vs the voter registration and absentee ballot request. That is what will take the most time.

[John Lenin]

But running the cards through the macines will only take a day at most, if the election isn't even close I would think that verifying signatures would be a total waste of time and money.