It could again take Pa. days to count mail ballots in November, despite lawmakers having since 2020 to address the issue
Election officials in Pennsylvania are warning that because of inaction in Harrisburg, the swing states votes may again take days to count, creating a window for bad actors to sow distrust in the results.
County election officials have been petitioning state lawmakers to update the states election code for years. Theyve also persistently asked the General Assembly to clarify questions surrounding which mail ballots can and cannot be counted to address voting rights litigation that has played out in Pennsylvania since no-excuse mail voting was authorized in 2019.
But as November approaches, little has changed since 2020 when former President Donald Trump used the slow counting process to promote unfounded claims of voter fraud in the wake of his defeat.
After four years, state lawmakers are unlikely to make changes before Election Day, which adds additional stress for county officials and sets up a scenario to again put the state at the center of conspiracy theories and controversies in a close election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-elections-mail-ballots-precanvassing-20240903.html