Pennsylvania's election will be "fair, safe and secure," secretary of commonwealth says
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pennsylvania's top elections official shared his final update ahead of Election Day.
On Monday, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt made two commitments to Pennsylvanians.
"First, that Pennsylvania's Nov. 5 election will be free, fair, safe and secure. And second, that all registered voters will have the opportunity to make their voice heard," Schmidt said.
Schmidt also discussed how long it will take to get the election results after the polls close. He said the Pennsylvania Department of State has never had final official results on Election Night.
"The department is confident that counties will work diligently to count every eligible ballot cast, and we can't predict what percentage of those votes will counted on Election Night," he said.
Schmidt said nearly 2 million mail-in ballots have been returned. Unlike other states, Pennsylvania law does not allow counties to begin opening and counting mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day.
"That means elections officials can't even remove the ballot from their envelope and prepare them to be counted until then, which is the same time those officials will be also running more than 9,100 polling places across the commonwealth for in-person voting," Schmidt said.
After polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, counties will start submitting unofficial results to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Those will continue to be updated as poll workers continue counting.
Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Dave Voye told KDKA-TV officials should know the county's election results by midnight. Voye said the county does all sorts of pre- and post-election testing, and he reassured the ballot counting process is very safe and secure.
"Your ballot is tabulated correctly in this county. There's no two ways about it," Voye said.
Schmidt encourages people to remain vigilant against misinformation or disinformation on Election Day.
"Every registered voter has the right to cast their ballot without harassment, intimidation or discrimination," Schmidt said.
Schmidt said if you see or experience issues at the polls in Pennsylvania alert the judge of elections at your polling location. He also recommends contacting your county elections office, district attorney's office or the Pennsylvania Department of State's voter hotline at 1-877-VOTESPA.