At a media briefing yesterday, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth said that the results of the election may not be known on election night.
With the election five days away, Secretary Al Schmidt said that the counting of mail-in ballots will not start until 7 AM on Election Day, which of course is the same time that in-person polls open. He said that the process leading up to the actual vote counting, including the opening of envelopes and flattening or “backbending” the ballots themselves, takes time. He said the process is getting faster with people being experienced in the process and machines being brought by counties to expedite the procedure and fewer mail-in ballots. But with all of that, it will still take a while to show a clear winner.
He added that it will ultimately come down to how close a race is, as the closer it is, the longer the process will take to determine the winner.
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