Pennsylvania election officials are bracing for conspiracy theories, protests
Republican Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania's top election official, has crisscrossed his state in a campaign to spread the gospel of election security, four years after former President Donald Trump disputed the ballot count.
The swing state, with its 19 electoral votes, is critical to the campaigns of both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. It's also a state with a law that prevents the early processing of mail-in ballots, which dragged out the state's count in 2020. The anticipated lag this year has election officials bracing for conspiracy theories, protests and violence.
"That window of time between the polls closing and races being called, I think, has shown to be a real vulnerability, where people seeking to undermine confidence in those results if they're going to lose have really exploited," Schmidt said.
Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot process
Unlike many other states, Pennsylvania can only begin processing mail-in ballots on the morning of Election Day.
It took four days to call the election in Pennsylvania in 2020. As those days passed, leaving the 2020 election results hanging in the balance, all eyes were on the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Police and protesters were outside while Schmidt and his fellow members of the Board of Elections oversaw the counting of a record 375,000 mail-in ballots, most of them from Democratic voters.
"When you have half of your voters vote by mail, like we did in 2020, counting those votes takes time," Schmidt said.
At a ballot intake center in Chester County, elections administrator Karen Barsoum showed the two different envelopes each mail-in ballot arrives in.
"So, hypothetically speaking, if we have 100,000 mail-in ballots, we have to deal with double the amount of the envelopes, which is a long process," Barsoum said.
Then the ballot comes out and it needs to be unfolded and flattened out to remove creases. In all, it takes several minutes to process each mail-in ballot.
Conspiracy theories take off
Hours after the polls closed in 2020, then President Trump demanded the counting stop. Schmidt happened to be passing by a TV and heard Trump's speech.
"We don't want them to find any ballots at 4 o'clock in the morning and add them to the list, OK?" Trump said at the time.
Schmidt brought together his communications team so they could reassure voters that the count would continue. Allegations of fraud spread as the mail-in ballots were counted.
"That's when you start hearing about truckloads of ballots. And that's when you start hearing about, you know, zombie voters," Schmidt said. "That's when all this other stuff really starts pouring in."
At the end of Pennsylvania's days-long count, the state was called for Joe Biden and, with that, he won the White House. But Trump continues to say that he won Pennsylvania in both 2016 — when he won by about 44,000 votes — and in 2020, when he lost by about 80,000 votes.
"I understand that he's a sore loser," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said. "I understand that he wished he would have won in 2020. But attacking this system made up of our neighbors from communities all across Pennsylvania, Republican and Democrat alike, is not the answer."
Calls for reform, patience and faith
In the wake of those four days in 2020, there were widespread calls to bring Pennsylvania in line with the majority of other states, where election workers get a head start on opening envelopes and flattening mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day.
"Pennsylvania's unique in that we have a divided legislature. We have a Democratic House and a Republican Senate," Schmidt said. "So getting anything done related to election reform has certainly been a challenge."
He has urged people to be patient with Pennsylvania.
"Our counties are working night and day to count their voters' votes," Schmidt said. "They're doing so as quickly as they can, and with integrity."
In the leadup to Election Day, Schmidt is doing everything he can to take on the fears Trump continues to spread about Pennsylvania and to assure residents their votes will count.
"Elections in Pennsylvania have never been more safe and secure with a voter verified paper ballot record of every vote that's cast, whether you vote in person on Election Day or you vote by mail," Schmidt said.
Shapiro appointed Schmidt, who previously worked for a decade on Philadelphia's Board of Elections, to the role of secretary of state last year. The governor was succinct when asked what Schmidt's marching orders were.
"Do your job," Shapiro said he told Schmidt. "Make it so legal, eligible voters have access to the ballot box and that we again have a free and fair, safe and secure election."
Schmidt is now visiting each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties and meeting with voters. At a fair in deep red Columbia County, Schmidt spent more than 35 minutes trying to convince local Republicans that they can trust the voting system.
"Everything is on the line"
A recent poll found around a third of Americans – and nearly 70% of Republicans – still believe Biden didn't legitimately win the 2020 election. Trump has refused to commit to accepting the results if he loses in November. If that happens, it could cause violence in the state, Shapiro said. It could also mean election officials face threats from Trump supporters.
"Am I worried about that? Am I concerned about that? Of course I am," Shapiro said.
Schmidt was threatened by Trump supporters after the 2020 vote when Trump called him out by name in a Twitter post.
"There were threats early on that were pretty generic in nature," Schmidt said. "As days went on, they became a lot more specific."
Those threatening him put out his address and graphically described what they would do to his family, Schmidt said. A picture of his home was shared and his children's names were listed repeatedly. Schmidt temporarily moved his family for their safety. There was round-the-clock security for months.
Still, Schmidt is sticking with his job.
"Everything is on the line," he said. "Our entire system of government, our country as it was founded, is on the line."