Election results in Pennsylvania’s June 2 primary took weeks to be announced. And because it is such a crucial swing state, a similar delay in the Nov. 3 election could end up leaving the country unsure of who the next president will be long after Election Day.
The biggest challenge is that lawmakers have yet to act on requests from the state election office and from nonpartisan voting groups to give election clerks more time to prepare mail ballots to be counted. This is known as pre-canvassing of mail ballots. Story continuesState law currently forbids election clerks from opening mail-in ballots before Election Day. If that remains the law, mail ballots will likely not be counted for at least a few days, and possibly even longer, in part because the state is expecting a massive increase in mail voting because of the coronavirus pandemic.
During the primary, “in approximately half the counties, ballots were still being counted over a week later” after Election Day because of Pennsylvania’s restrictive law, an Aug. 1 report from the secretary of state’s office said. Drop boxes resemble blue Postal Service receptacles, only they’re run by county or local election officials and not by the post office. They are a secure way for voters to cast mail-in ballots without actually having to mail them in.
The Republican bill would also allow poll watchers to come from any part of the state to observe voting in large cities like Philadelphia. The law currently restricts poll watchers — who can challenge the validity of voters — to their own counties.“Anybody from anywhere in the state could come into a heavily African-American part of Philly and object to voting. I find that very problematic and could lead to voter suppression. Democrats are not going to budge on that,” said state Rep.
Boyle introduced an amendment to the Republican legislation that represents a compromise on pre-canvassing. It would give clerks 14 days to open mail ballots and make sure they are in order so they are ready to be counted.“There is openness to being at the table with the governor to find solutions, but the three days before is really the best counties can do because three days before the election is the deadline to challenge a ballot’s residency eligibility,” Straub said.