Why Philadelphia likely won’t be finished counting mail-in ballots on Election Day

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A few relatively minor changes would allow Philadelphia to process mail-in ballots much more quickly and complete counting much sooner after polls close on Election Day, an analysis by Votebeat and Spotlight PA found.

The analysis found wide differences between Allegheny and Philadelphia — Pennsylvania’s two largest counties — in the speed at which mail-in ballots were counted during the November 2022 election.

This year, Philadelphia processed 5,000 ballots per hour, while Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh and surrounding communities, processed more than 12,000 ballots per hour, based on an analysis of information provided by counties, publicly available data and data from the Pennsylvania Department of State.

While Philadelphia officials have publicly blamed the counting delays on a state law that says poll workers cannot begin processing ballots until the morning of Election Day, the analysis points to other culprits: outdated equipment and fewer staff.

Public records show that Philadelphia already has equipment that can open ballot envelopes much more quickly than current equipment. However, as of Oct. 15, the city still planned to use older machines in November — although the commissioners who make voting decisions appear to be divided on whether that is the right approach.

The stakes of an accurate yet rapid vote count couldn’t be higher, because every day that unofficial election results are delayed could lead to even more distrust in the outcome.

In 2020, it took four days for the state to nominate Joe Biden, due in large part to the approximately 375,000 ballots Philadelphia processed during that time. The delay gave rise to conspiracy theories that fraudulent votes for Biden were added late in the counting process.

How Philadelphia and Allegheny disagree on the same task

Allegheny County and Philadelphia have largely similar processes.

The day begins with poll workers checking the outer envelopes of mail-in ballots to ensure there are no defects that will prevent counting, such as a missing date or signature. The ballot papers are then fed through a machine that opens the outer envelope. In both counties, staff then physically removes the secrecy envelope from the return envelope and passes the secrecy envelope through the opening machine to gain access to the ballot inside. Then workers take it out and flatten it so the votes can be scanned and counted by a tabulating machine.

In Washington Post Comments Over the summer, City Commissioner Lisa Deeley said the obstacle to unofficial results on election night was that under state law, the city could not open envelopes before 7 a.m. on Election Day. Commissioner Seth Bluestein made similar comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer in September.

Giving this process a head start before Election Day would require a change in the law. Many election officials, politicians and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania have advocated for such a change. But as many counties have shown in the years since the 2020 presidential election, with enough manpower and the right equipment, it is possible — albeit expensive — to count all mail-in ballots on Election Day.

Allegheny County election officials said the “secret sauce” to their county’s success was the high-speed envelope-opening machine. According to the manufacturer, the Bluecrest Vantage mail sorter can open up to 50,000 envelopes per hour with one attachment. Allegheny County also uses three Opex Omation 306 machines for smaller ballot processing tasks, which the manufacturer says can open 40,000 envelopes per hour.

By comparison, Philadelphia has 22 Opex machines, called extraction counters, that can each open up to 3,600 ballots per hour, according to the manufacturer.

Records show the Philadelphia City Commissioners’ office, which makes election-related decisions, purchased four of the faster Opex Omation machines over the summer. Philadelphia also has a Bluecrest machine that is used to sort ballots, not open ballots.

At least one of the three commissioners, Deeley, doesn’t want to use the new machines to open envelopes in November. She has placed a motion on the agenda for Wednesday’s commissioner meeting that calls for only pick-up desks or letter openers to be used to open both secret and return envelopes.

Deputy City Commissioner Nick Custodio said Deeley opposes using the new Omation machines to open ballots because they use a method found with similar machines to damage the ballots inside. When that happens, poll workers must duplicate the ballot to tabulate it, a time-consuming process.

“Our priority is accuracy over speed,” Deeley said in an interview Thursday. “It’s always been that way and that’s how it stays.”

However, no decision has yet been made about the new machines, said chairman Omar Sabir.

“It’s like buying a Corvette and [you] Don’t drive it,” he said. “We will carry out tests. We’ll see how it works. If it works the way we want it to, we will use it.”

Other subtle differences between the two counties’ operations could also account for the speed differences.

Allegheny County will have about 200 to 220 employees at its absentee ballot processing facility on Election Day, while Philadelphia will employ two alternating day shifts with about 150 employees each and 90 on a third night shift.

Philadelphia’s ballots are “stacked” and kept together throughout all steps of the process and not mixed with other groups to allow for further control of accuracy. Allegheny County does not keep ballots together in batches, a spokesman said, although the county believes it can simultaneously prioritize accuracy, integrity and speed.

“We have no concerns about our process,” said Abigail Gardner, an Allegheny County spokeswoman.

Philadelphia also conducts what is known as ballot matching, which compares the names of people who voted at in-person polling locations with those who sent in mail-in ballots to ensure that no one who voted in person also voted by mail . That contributed to the delayed results in 2020, although things should be much quicker this year with the city’s rollout of electronic poll books, Deeley said.

Why postal vote processing will be significantly faster than in 2020

Much has changed in counties’ ability to process mail-in ballots since 2020, when Pennsylvania faced long waits for unofficial results, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said at a community event in Gettysburg last month.

Counties have learned to organize their counting process more efficiently, figured out how to staff their counting operations with enough workers, purchased new equipment with the help of state funds and have seen a decline in absentee voting since the pandemic.

“Hopefully we’ll know the results sooner,” he said. “But ultimately it all depends on how close the election is and as always.”

Votebeat and Spotlight PA reached out to more than a dozen counties of varying sizes and asked them when they finished counting mail-in ballots in each of the four November elections from 2020 to 2023. By combining this data with data on the number of mail-in ballots in the county using records maintained by the Department of State, the news organizations were able to calculate processing rates and project those estimates to similarly sized counties.

The results show what many election officials have said: Many if not most counties should be able to complete the count on Election Day, but in some larger counties the count might not take place until Wednesday or Thursday. That would mean unofficial results are likely to come in quicker than in 2020, but perhaps not quick enough to curb misinformation and distrust of the election.

In any case, Schmidt emphasized, the question of how close the election is depends on how quickly the news agencies can announce a winner in the presidential election campaign.

As of October 15, Allegheny County had approved more than 200,000 ballot applications, while Philadelphia had approved 182,000. In the November 2020 election, approximately 350,000 ballots were returned to Allegheny County and 375,000 ballots were returned to Philadelphia. The last day to request an absentee ballot is October 29th.

Philadelphia expects to finish counting the 75,000 to 100,000 mail-in ballots by just after 8 p.m. on Election Day, Custodio said. Allegheny County expects all ballots to be cast around the same time period.

“We have every intention of completing it [our mail ballot processing] on Election Day,” said Jessica Garofolo, director of administrative services for Allegheny County.

That doesn’t mean counties wouldn’t benefit from having additional time before Election Day to prepare mail-in ballots for counting, a process known as “pre-canvassing,” Garofolo said.

“You have to remember that we are taking a few hundred people away from their normal jobs in the county,” she said.

Lisa Schaffer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said officials have learned a lot since the last presidential election about what resources and personnel are needed to efficiently process mail-in ballots and complete counting on election night.

“But we have always said that preselection is not just about getting results on election night,” she said. “The purpose of pre-acquisition is also to help counties make better use of their resources. … It would make election administration much more effective if we could process mail-in ballots in advance and then focus solely on in-person voting.”

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in association with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at [email protected].