Gov. Wolf says high voter registration, mail-in ballots prolong count in Pa., as expected

Gov. Wolf says high voter registration, mail-in ballots prolong count in Pa., as expected

By Jen Rehill

November 5, 2020

Please be patient: We most likely won’t know the results of the Nov. 3 election in Pa. and across the country for several days. Click here for all of over election coverage and results as we get them.

Eyes are on Pennsylvania as the nation waits for the remaining votes to be counted in the presidential election. 

In remarks last night, Governor Tom Wolf underscored why vote tallies are not yet complete in the commonwealth while other key, closely contested states like Michigan and Wisconsin have now been called for former vice president Joe Biden. 

Wolf says officials here can’t start counting ballots until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

“In Pennsylvania you can’t even start to precanvass. That means you can’t prepare mail-in ballots – by opening envelopes, smoothing them out if there are wrinkles in them, to prepare them to be scanned at 8 p.m. You can’t even start that process until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Other states have days before the election.”

Other factors contributing to the longer counting process include a record number of registered voters this year and a state dealing with 10 times the number of mail-in ballots seen four years ago.

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