President Donald Trump insists that Americans should know the results of the Nov. 3 election by the end of election day. However, experts warn that a massive surge in mail-in ballots cast due to concerns about COVID-19 could prolong the time it takes to count all the votes cast.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (D) told NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday that 2.4 million residents of her state have already cast their ballots, which means it will “take longer” to count them.
“I expect that the overwhelming majority of ballots in Pennsylvania, that’s mail-in and absentee ballots, as well as in-person ballots, will be counted within a matter of days,” she said, adding, “The counties are staffing up, have a ton of equipment, best practices in place, and are planning, for the most part, to count 24/7 until it’s done.”
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Boockvar noted that military and overseas ballots “until a full week after election day.”
“I just want to set that straight, that this is a process, and we want to make sure that every single vote of every valid voter is securely and accurately counted,” she said.
Under Pennsylvania law, ballots can be counted as long as they are postmarked by Tuesday and arrive by 5 p.m. on Friday.
She encouraged voters to “ignore the lawsuits” and “get your ballots in today.”