Take a tour through Philadelphia's election headquarters and see how ballots are secured
Election Day is less than two weeks out and millions of Americans have already cast their vote. Officials in Philadelphia opened up their election headquarters to the media on Friday and staff actually simulated how the machines work and explained why the vote counting could be a little quicker this time around.
First, when ballots are received at the warehouse, they are fed through a big machine, which sorts them into their proper district. So far, Philadelphia officials have received about 130,000 mail-in ballots. They expect that number to reach about 200,000 by Election Day. Once sorted, the ballots are secured in a locked cage. Then they sit there until 7 a.m. on Election Day. That's when state law allows workers to start opening envelopes.
"One thing that hasn't changed since 2020 and that is the law that prevents counties from beginning to process mail ballots until 7 a.m. on election morning. Unlike plenty of other states, red states and blue states, even Florida can begin that process days, if not weeks in advance," said Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, who was there Friday for the tour, his last of the state's 67 counties.
"The people responsible for running elections in every county that I've been to have been professional civil servants," Schmidt said.
Staff members used test ballots to show exactly how the machines work. They have one type of apparatus, known as "extractors" that opens outer envelopes and even removes the secrecy sleeve. Then, another machine, called the "grinder" slices open the secrecy sleeve. After that, staff members are needed to hand-remove each ballot from the sleeve and flatten them.
Lastly, they're fed through the final machine that tallies the vote. Commissioners wouldn't say how long it will take to count all the ballots but Philadelphia officials are expecting fewer mail-in ballots than four years ago.
"It will be faster because more people will be using the voting machines. And the only thing we want — we want Philadelphians to understand that this process is secure," Omar Sabir, the chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Elections, said.
If you plan on voting by mail in Philadelphia, officials recommend you put the ballot in the mail soon or drop it into one of the city's drop boxes, which are under 24-hour surveillance cameras.
Commissioners expect about 70% of Philadelphia voters will cast their ballots in person on Election Day.