VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Election Day may be over, but now it’s a busy time for election officials as they go through and make sure unofficial results are accurate, a process called canvassing.

“This is a process and I will tell you that I think the public wants us to undertake this process. There is a reason why we are doing this and I think it is very important that everyone knows that,” said Jeffrey L. Marks, president. of the Virginia Beach Board of Elections.

Watch related coverage: Kiggans defeats Cotter Smasal to keep Virginia House seat

Kiggans defeats Cotter Smasal to retain Virginia House seat, DDHQ projects

On Thursday, election officials started canvassing at the Municipal Center. While state law gives them until Nov. 15 to certify the results to the State Board of Elections, they hope to have them completed by the middle of next week.

The bipartisan Board of Elections oversees the process, but Marks emphasizes that politics is kept out of it.

“We are not indebted to any party or any candidate. We owe it to the city of Virginia Beach and, frankly, the 335,000 registered voters here,” Marks said.

The process includes reviewing the reported results from the voting machines and making sure they appear to be tallying correctly.

Check out related coverage: Biden delivers speech after Trump’s victory; is committed to the peaceful transition of power

Biden Gives Speech After Trump’s Victory; is committed to the peaceful transition of power

In other years, the process has drawn much attention to the possibility of recounts, which can happen in Virginia if a losing candidate is within a percentage point lead.

This year, it doesn’t look like any races are headed for recounts in the city.

Observers from political parties are allowed to watch everything.

“What you’re trying to make sure is that if something happens, it’s isolated. It’s not systematic. It’s dealt with, and if something happens, we’ll find it,” Marks said.

Follow related coverage: Republicans hold control of Senate, while power in House remains too close to call

Republicans hold control of the Senate, while power in the House remains too close to call

Also, provisional ballots are still being processed, including people who used same-day registration.

Marks says the effort requires a lot of resources because election officials must verify that someone is eligible to vote. He says it would be easier if people just registered to vote through the normal process before the deadline.

This year, there are about 5,000 provisional ballots, he said.

“There’s a lot of research behind the scenes that has to go into every provisional ballot, so you can understand that we’re frustrated with the number of provisional ballots,” Marks said.

Follow Related Coverage: Projected winners are in for all but one of Hampton Roads’ 6 mayoral races

The projected winners are for all but one of the 6 mayoral races in Hampton Roads

He wants to assure people that the results are counted correctly and accurately.

“Obviously, there are some secrets that we can’t divulge when it comes to security and things like that, but the more I can get out there and explain to people and maybe they’ll try to understand,” he said.