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NATCHEZ — On Wednesday afternoon, Adams County election officials were still counting the remaining 1,500 absentee ballots cast in Adams County in the U.S. Presidential Election.

In the Adams County Courthouse, election workers open each mail-in ballot and check that they are correctly signed and notarized before they are machine counted.

“This afternoon sometime, we will have most of the absentees run through the scanner,” said Larry Gardner, Adams County election commissioner on Wednesday.

“We are just starting to process affidavits and we will be doing that for at least a couple more days.”

Gardner said final results could not be certified at least until Wednesday, Nov. 11, five business days after the election has passed allowing all of the absentee ballots to arrive in the mail.

“That puts them coming in by 5 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 10) which means we would certify them on Wednesday (Nov. 11),” Gardner said.

At least one absentee ballot is being held for signature verification, Gardner said, adding the voter has up to 10 days after the election to respond and re-sign to verify their signature.

“If that voter doesn’t respond, then we can certify the election on the 10th day after the election,” Gardner said. “Everything is going pretty smoothly, it is just tedious and it just takes time. You don’t want to miss something and you don’t want to disenfranchise someone if you can help it. We’re doing due diligence, especially on these affidavits, to make sure that we’ve got the information.”