(NewsNation) — The key battleground of Pennsylvania holds one of the highest stakes for both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on election night, but results from the consequential state could take time.
The state carries 19 electoral votes, which could determine the winner of the election.
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Pennsylvania state law prohibits early counting
State law prohibits counties from processing mail-in ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, and results cannot be published until after polls close. This restriction, combined with county-by-county reporting autonomy, means early results may not reflect the outcome.
More than two million voters in the state requested mail-in ballots for this election.
While it’s too early to call, the race is expected to be tight, NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt said Tuesday night.
“We are in for a goat rodeo in Pennsylvania in what could be an extraordinarily close race,” he said.
Drew McCoy, president of NewsNation partner Decision Desk HQ, had previously said vote counting in Pennsylvania’s 67 counties will require careful attention, and he expects results to trickle in during the overnight hours and into Wednesday morning.
Pennsylvania caught heat in 2020 election
Pennsylvania secured the White House for President Joe Biden in 2020 on a Saturday, four days after Election Day. NewsNation’s partner Decision Desk HQ was the first organization to call the election for Biden just before 9 a.m. ET that day.
The state became the epicenter of Trump’s “Stop The Steal” campaign in which he alleged mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day should not be counted.
People wait in line outside the Bucks County government building to apply for an on-demand mail ballot on the last day to request one in Doylestown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)
The campaign mounted a series of legal challenges claiming that Republican observers were kept too far from the voting tabulation process in cities like Philadelphia, The Associated Press reported. A record number (375,000) of mail-in ballots were received in the state in 2020, with the majority of those coming from Democratic voters, according to CBS News.
Pennsylvania Republican Secretary of Commonwealth Al Schmidt told CBS News that due to state laws, he believes the vote-counting process could still take time to ensure an accurate result. But since 2020, Pennsylvania has improved its vote-counting process as new machinery has been introduced that processes ballots more quickly, Schmidt said.
Philadelphia election officials have invested in new technology to speed up the count. The city plans to deploy six new mail-in ballot processing machines capable of opening 40,000 envelopes per hour — a significant upgrade from older machines that handled just 3,600 hourly.
Election Day issues
The state faced some hiccups Tuesday.
A judge allowed a Pennsylvania county to extend its voting hours after a technical problem prevented some people from scanning their ballots Tuesday.
The Cambria County Board of Elections filed an emergency petition Tuesday morning seeking to end polling hours at 10 p.m. ET rather than 8 p.m. ET.
“We understand that there are some line delays on the ground,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley wrote on X. “We need you to stay in line. We need you to fill out your ballot in full and deliver it. Our Pennsylvania lawyers are all over this issue and will ensure fairness and accuracy in the process.”
Pennsylvania voters wait hours to vote
The issue delayed operations for several hours and threatened “to disenfranchise a significant number of voters” in the area, according to the petition.
Pennsylvania voters, like many around the country, waited hours to cast their ballot.
Queues were lengthy at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, as students entered the ballot box on campus.
NewsNation’s Jeff Arnold and Connell McShane contributed to this story.
