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Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021

Did Bergen County, New Jersey report 100% of its votes were counted in the 2021 election, yet add unexplained votes later?

Christiana Dillard, Lead Stories

no

Social media posts cast suspicion on changes in numbers overnight after Election Day, questioning some 40,000 votes in Bergen County added for incumbent Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy.

Added votes were explained by how votes were counted after polls closed. Raw numbers that night did not include mail-in and provisional votes, which were counted after on-site results.

Although news organizations showed "100%" in the "Rpt." or "reported" column on the night of November 2, that referred to 100% of precincts reporting results.

Election numbers from The Associated Press were the source of results for many news outlets. Lauren Easton, global director of media relations and corporate communications for AP, told Lead Stories:

"Bergen County had advised before Election Day that it had received more than 42,000 mail ballots. When the county reported most of those votes early Wednesday morning, AP added them to its tally."

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