You folks should federalize it and turn to paper only. It's only once in two years, if every state dumps machines (and all the maintenance and other cost generating BS), money for few more workers would be found to count it just in time for the next morning in every location.

We in Poland always used and always will be using paper and hand counting by volunteers (as far as I know you can't really do it for too much times in a row or at all - obvious reasons; anti-clique rule basically). And we, post-Eastern-bloc country, don't have the shenanigans you Global Super Power folks have.

Hire few more people, muster up the patience to vait till the morning/noon, be calm that it's more legit and traceable