Ann Baker wrote to the KHOU 11 News Verify team, concerned after a friend told her “that mail-in ballots don't get counted unless there is a tie. I hope this is not true. I want my vote to count, especially now. Please verify."
Our first stop was Vote.org, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. It has an entire page on its website devoted to this topic because it comes up so often.
Vote.org says, “Yes, all votes are counted, whether they're cast in-person or by absentee ballot.”
The site says it’s a common misconception that absentee ballots are only counted during tight races because they’re often such a small percentage of the vote, a race can be called before they’re tallied.
“As absentee voting becomes more popular, however, an increasing number of elections are decided by absentee ballots,” the site says.