A man watches results come in on a screen set up at an election night gathering at Independence Mall , Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia.
Michael Perez / AP Photo
Voters in pivotal Pennsylvania keep nation on edge of seat
Voters turned out in large numbers, leaving in their wake a mountain of ballots that will have to be counted in the coming days.
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Mark Scolforo/The Associated Press -
Michael Rubinkam/Associated Press
Michael Perez / AP Photo
A man watches results come in on a screen set up at an election night gathering at Independence Mall , Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia.
(Harrisburg) — The pivotal role that was anticipated for Pennsylvania in the presidential election appeared increasingly likely early Wednesday as counting in that race and others continued in the vote-rich swing state.
Voters turned out in large numbers for an election that produced few of the glitches some had feared, leaving in their wake a mountain of ballots that will have to be counted in the coming days.
Be patient with results
Results of the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania, and across the country, likely won’t be known for days.
The counting of ballots continues after election night most years. This year’s expected surge in mailed ballots means election offices will need extra time to tally all the votes.
As that occurs, some candidates may call for the counting to end and for themselves to be declared the winner. However, winners will be decided when all the votes are counted — that’s the American election system at work.
WITF’s journalists will cover that process, and WITF will rely on The Associated Press to call races for the winner based on the AP’s rigorous, time-tested method.
The state’s decision to greatly expand mail-in voting for the first time this year means it could still be days before it’s clear whether President Donald Trump repeated his crucial Pennsylvania victory from four years ago or whether native son Joe Biden will collect its 20 electoral votes.
“What’s most important is that we have accurate results and that every vote is counted, even if that takes a little longer,” Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said an hour after polls closed. “So I’m urging Pennsylvania to just to remain calm, be patient, stay united on election night and in the days ahead.”
As a sign of the state’s importance, Democrat Biden visited his hometown of Scranton on Tuesday and Republican Trump called in to a northeastern Pennsylvania radio show with just hours left in the voting.
The president announced his opposition to a local storm water ordinance that critics have called a rain tax. Trump told radio station WILK he may end it by executive order, calling the fee “one of the most ridiculous and unfair taxes.”
Matt Slocum / AP Photo
Philadelphia election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots for the general election, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia.
All of Pennsylvania’s 18 members of Congress sought reelection, and in early results at least 11 won — Republicans John Joyce, Fred Keller, Guy Reschenthaler, Glenn Thompson, Lloyd Smucker and Dan Meuser; and Democrats Mike Doyle, Dwight Evans, Brendan Boyle, Mary Gay Scanlon and Madeleine Dean.
A pair of Democratic incumbents, Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Treasurer Joe Torsella, sought reelection, while Pennsylvanians also voted for a new auditor general to replace term-limited Democrat Eugene DePasquale.
Control of the state House was also at stake, with Democrats needing nine seats to seize the majority from Republicans after a decade out of power. Democrats also had a gap to make up in the state Senate.
Election Day brought some voting-related legal action, and more may be on the way.
Republicans and a voter outside Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit accusing Montgomery County officials of illegally processing mail-in ballots before Tuesday for the purpose of allowing voters to fix problems with their ballots.
A federal judge in Philadelphia set a hearing for Wednesday morning on the Republican bid to stop the count of 49 ballots that were amended and returned in the suburban county.
The state’s high court has not prohibited counties from allowing voters to fix their ballots, said Kelly Cofrancisco, a county spokesperson.
And in a lawsuit filed Tuesday night in a statewide appellate court, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and five other plaintiffs asked to block counties from allowing voters whose mail-in ballots were disqualified to be able to cast a vote by provisional ballot.
Julio Cortez / AP Photo
The final two people stand in line to vote after a long wait at a polling station at Northeastern Middle School, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Mount Wolf, Pa.
The lawsuit said the state Supreme Court has already ruled that state law provides no such avenue for a voter to fix a disqualified vote. In Oct. 21 guidance to counties, state elections officials said a voter whose mail-in or absentee ballot was rejected could still vote in person by a provisional ballot.
The state’s top election official, Kathy Boockvar, insisted that the practice singled out by the lawsuit is legal. Regardless, she said there aren’t “overwhelming” numbers of voters who cast a provisional ballot after their mail-in ballot was disqualified, but she did not give an exact figure.
The state Supreme Court — citing Postal Service delays, the huge number of people voting by mail because of COVID-19, and the strain on county boards of election — ordered counties to count mail-in ballots received as many as three days after the vote, so long as they were mailed by Election Day.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to block the counting of late-arriving mail-in votes, but it could revisit the issue.
Trump has tried to sow doubt about the fairness of the election, saying the only way Democrats could win Pennsylvania is to cheat. Without evidence, he said late Monday the three-day period will allow “rampant and unchecked cheating” and will induce street violence.
The unrest some had braced for did not materialize, but there were scattered voting issues, including problems with voting machines and tardy poll workers in the morning.
A judge ordered two precincts at a Scranton elementary school to remain open an additional 45 minutes because machines had been briefly out of commission earlier in the day.
In Pittsburgh, a polling place couldn’t open on time because the judge of elections’ car was stolen, according to Allegheny County spokesperson Amie Downs. The car contained a suitcase with election paperwork and keys to a ballot scanner but was recovered.
At another Pittsburgh polling place, two people were removed for causing a disturbance, Downs said.
And in Philadelphia, a poll worker improperly blocked a Trump campaign poll watcher from entering a voting precinct in the mistaken belief he wasn’t allowed to be there, said Kevin Feeley, spokesperson for the Board of City Commissioners, which oversees elections. The poll watcher was eventually allowed in, he said.
Matt Slocum / AP Photo
Chester County, Pa., election worker Kristina Sladek opens mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 General Election in the United States at West Chester University, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in West Chester, Pa.
A line of about 150 people stretched a city block at one polling site in Philadelphia, where Shavere McLean, 36, a massage therapist, came bundled against the 39-degree chill. She also brought a chair, an apple, an orange and a cup of coffee.
“I tried to be prepared,” she said. McLean intended to vote for Biden. “I just want a better leader, someone who cares about everyone.”
In Milford, a northeastern Pennsylvania town close to the border with New York and New Jersey, most of the cars passing through the main intersection honked at Gail Just and her Trump-Pence sign. Just, 70, said she supports Trump because he “gets things done.”
Sam Goldman helped organize an outdoor watch party on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.
“This is the town square, right? Should Trump declare a victory before the election is over, should he win, should he just say, ‘This is over, I’m not going anywhere,’ we want to be in a position to respond to whatever happens together,” said Goldman, 33.
Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania. Contributing to this report were Natalie Pompilio in Philadelphia and Associated Press writers Maryclaire Dale and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Marc Levy in Harrisburg; and David Porter in Milford.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
