Pennsylvania's Provisional Ballot Count: A Bureaucratic Delay or Necessary Procedure?
Legal Framework and Election Administration Practices Drive Extended Count Times in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania expects to count tens of thousands of provisional ballots no earlier than Thursday, November 7, 2024, likely extending beyond that. What's the hold-up? Is it incompetence or bureaucracy? TL;DR: Mostly bureaucracy:
Legal and Procedural Requirements1:
Pennsylvania Code Title 25, Chapter 113 - Electronic Voting Systems:
Section 113.12 - Canvassing and counting mail-in ballots. This statute outlines that no mail-in ballots can be opened or counted until 7:00 a.m. on Election Day.
Pennsylvania Election Code, Title 25, Chapter 31 - Voting by Qualified Absentee Electors:
Section 3146.8 - Canvassing of official absentee ballots and mail-in ballots. This section specifically states that counties cannot begin the process of canvassing (which includes opening and preparing ballots for counting) until Election Day.
Verification Process:
Pennsylvania Election Code, Title 25, Chapter 12 - Provisional Voting:
Verification process in the Election Code, and the general guidelines for provisional voting are implied through the administration of elections. Further details would be found in administrative procedures set by the Department of State or county election boards, which might not be codified in law but are based on implementing the Election Code, and is beyond the scope of this article.31
Volume of Provisional Ballots:
This aspect is more about election administration practices rather than specific legal requirements. However, the expectation and handling of large volumes of provisional ballots:
Pennsylvania Election Code, Title 25, Chapter 12 - Provisional Voting:
Deals with provisional voting, which is the context for why significant numbers might be expected.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/PDF/1937/0/0320..PDF . The pdf is available to download at the bottom of this article.