Yeah, if you're up by 12 thousand votes and there's only another 9 thousand left to check, you don't need to wait to say who's won.

Decided yes, certified no. The final certified vote tally is supposed to have all valid ballots counted for every single race. That's the official result and typically isn't due until early December.

No, all the votes are counted. It's just that the result can often be predicted before the counting has been finished.