Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting process could cause delays in vote counting | 60 minutes

Republican Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania’s chief elections official, has crisscrossed his state in a campaign to spread the gospel of election security, four years after former President Donald Trump challenged the ballot count.

With its 19 electoral votes, the swing state is crucial for the election campaign of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. It is also a state with a law preventing early processing of mail-in ballots, which dragged out the state’s count in 2020. The expected delay this year has election officials bracing for conspiracy theories, protests and violence.

“That window of time between the polls closing and the election being called has, I think, proven to be a real vulnerability that people who want to undermine confidence in these results if they lose have really exploited,” Schmidt said.

Mail-in voting process in Pennsylvania

Unlike many other states, Pennsylvania cannot begin processing mail-in ballots until the morning of Election Day.

It took four days for Pennsylvania’s 2020 election to be called. As those days passed and the 2020 election results remained uncertain, all eyes were on the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Police and protesters were outside while Schmidt and his colleagues from the election board monitored the counting of a Record 375,000 mail-in ballotsmost of them from Democratic voters.

“If half of your voters vote by mail, as they did in 2020, counting those votes takes time,” Schmidt said.

At a ballot acceptance center in Chester County, elections director Karen Barsoum showed off the two different envelopes in which each mail-in ballot arrives.

“So if we theoretically have 100,000 mail-in ballots, we have to deal with double the amount of envelopes, which is a long process,” Barsoum said.

Then the ballot paper comes out and needs to be unfolded and flattened to remove wrinkles. In total, processing each postal ballot paper takes several minutes.

Conspiracy theories are gaining momentum

Just hours after polls closed in 2020, President Trump called for the counting to stop. Schmidt happened to pass a television and heard Trump’s speech.

“We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 a.m. and add them to the list, okay?” Trump said at the time.

Schmidt assembled his communications team to reassure voters that the count would continue. As postal ballots were counted, allegations of fraud spread.

“That’s when you start hearing about tons of ballots. And then you also hear about zombie voters,” said Schmidt. “Then all these other things really start pouring in.”

At the end of Pennsylvania’s day-long count, the state was demanded Joe Biden and with that he won the White House. But Trump continues to say he won Pennsylvania both in 2016 — when he won by about 44,000 votes — and in 2020, when he lost by about 80,000 votes.

“I understand he’s a sore loser,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said. “I understand that he wishes he had won in 2020. But attacking this system, made up of our neighbors from communities across Pennsylvania, Republicans and Democrats alike, is not the answer.”

Calls for reform, patience and faith

Following those four days in 2020, there were widespread calls to bring Pennsylvania in line with most other states where poll workers have a head start on opening envelopes and folding mail-in ballots before Election Day.

“Pennsylvania is unique in that we have a divided legislature. We have a Democratic House of Representatives and a Republican Senate,” Schmidt said. “So it was certainly a challenge to get anything done related to electoral reform.”

He urged people to be patient with Pennsylvania.

“Our counties are working day and night to count the votes of their voters,” Schmidt said. “They do this as quickly as possible and with integrity.”

Ahead of Election Day, Schmidt is doing everything he can to address the fears Trump continues to spread about Pennsylvania and to reassure residents that their votes will count.

“Elections in Pennsylvania have never been safer and more secure because the voter has verified every vote cast on the ballot, regardless of whether you vote in person or by mail on Election Day,” Schmidt said.

Shapiro appointed Schmidt, who previously served on the Philadelphia Board of Elections for a decade, as secretary of state last year. When asked about Schmidt’s marching orders, the governor was succinct.

“Do your job,” Shapiro told Schmidt. “Make it legal for eligible voters to have access to the ballot box and for us to have free, fair and secure elections again.”

Schmidt is currently visiting each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties and meeting with voters. At a county fair in deep-red Columbia County, Schmidt spent more than 35 minutes trying to convince local Republicans that they could trust the electoral system.

“Everything is at stake”

A recent poll found that about a third of Americans — and nearly 70% of Republicans — still believe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election. Trump has refused to commit to accepting the results if he loses in November. If that happens, there could be violence in the state, Shapiro said. It could also mean Election officials are threatened by Trump supporters.

“Am I worried about this? Am I worried about this? Of course I’m worried about it,” Shapiro said.

Schmidt was threatened by Trump supporters after the 2020 vote when Trump mentioned him by name in a Twitter post.

“There were threats early on that were pretty general in nature,” Schmidt said. “As the days went by, they became much more specific.”

Those who threatened him revealed his address and vividly described what they would do to his family, Schmidt said. A picture of his house was shared and his children’s names were repeatedly listed. For their safety, Schmidt and his family temporarily moved. There was 24-hour security for months.

Nevertheless, Schmidt remains loyal to his job.

“Everything is at stake,” he said. “Our entire system of government, our country as it was founded, is at stake.”