In certain states some interviews were also conducted by phone with absentee voters and early voters.
Most of the ballots, 239, were cast by absentee voters.
In California, 400 of the interviews were conducted by telephone with absentee voters.
It is true that absentee voters in the past tended to favor Republican candidates, he said.
The Arizona results include 401 self-described absentee voters interviewed by telephone.
But even Republican Party officials said that absentee voters were unlikely to change the outcome.
The absentee voters whose ballots were rejected have not even been told yet that their votes aren't being counted.
Local absentee voters include people who are working during Election Day.
The justices expressed concern for absentee voters and the public interest in having an optimal choice of candidates.
But he said it might not be discovered until after the election that an absentee voter had, say, failed to receive the new ballot.