Due to a quirk of the state’s election law, Pennsylvania presidential election votes could again take days to count, write Colby Itkowitz and Derek Hawkins for The Washington Post.
The law forbids the opening of mail-in ballots before 7AM on Election Day. Despite widespread calls for change, the state Senate decided not to revise the law to allow mail-in votes to be counted ahead of the day of the election.
This makes Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, among just seven states that do not allow pre-canvassing. Wisconsin, another battleground state, is also among the seven.
Last election cycle, the narrow vote margins and unprecedented number of people voting by mail due to the pandemic created a massive backlog leaving state election officials racing to finish the count.
Officials are worried that the delay could again cause confusion and deteriorate trust in the process, while making election workers targets for harassment.
“If the electoral college comes down to Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, we might still face a long period where we don’t know the winner,” said Rachel Orey, an elections expert at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Read more about Pennsylvania’s state election law in The Washington Post.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules on mail-in ballot envelopes
