Mail-in voting: How the law in Fla., and not Pa., allows for election night returns

Nov. 4—HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's top election official consistently advises the public not to expect unofficial results in the immediate hours after polls close on Election Day and in doing so, Leigh Chapman often holds up another state that gets it done: Florida.

In the 2020 general election, voters in Pennsylvania waited into the weekend to learn the unofficial results of the presidential race. Florida's results were finalized a few hours after polls closed, according to Tampa Bay's WTSP.

The difference?

Florida law allows its election workers to begin the canvass of mail-in ballots — process, count, compute, tabulate results — about three weeks ahead of Election Day. It also boasts an 8-day minimum of early in-person voting when state and federal races are up for election. County election supervisors can extend the early voting period to 14 days.

"Until we have pre-canvassing like in Florida, we will, unfortunately, have that delay in counting," Chapman, acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of State, said in an October media update on the election.

Pre-canvassing is a term unique to Pennsylvania that's akin to canvassing, and it's something desired by county election officials from both major parties. The Republican-held General Assembly adopted an election reform law in 2021 that included pre-canvassing and early voting but because it also mandated voter identification and other requirements opposed by Democrats and the Gov. Tom Wolf administration, the measure was vetoed.

Turnaround comparisonFlorida has come a long way since the days of "hanging chads" and the infamous recount in the 2000 presidential race.

There were more than 11 million votes cast in the Sunshine State in the 2020 presidential election. With 4.8 million vote-by-mail ballots submitted and another 4.3 million ballots cast during early voting, millions of ballots were already processed when the traditional voting period opened.

In 2020, 6.9 million ballots were cast in Pennsylvania including 2.7 million vote-by-mail ballots. All were processed on and after Election Day. The Associated Press called the presidential election in the Keystone State on Nov. 7, four days after polls closed. The delays fueled unfounded allegations of voter fraud by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters — allegations that persist despite finding no footing in numerous legal challenges.

Election workers in Pennsylvania can't prepare or count any vote-by-mail ballots until polls open at 7 a.m. on the day of an election. They essentially pull double duty by administering both in-person and mail-in voting simultaneously and without the head start that states like Florida permit.

While an aspect of mail-in voting allows such ballots to be cast in person, Pennsylvania doesn't have a formal early voting period.

"We anticipate this means that once again, Pennsylvania won't have unofficial results on election night. We must again ask for patience. An accurate count of all eligible votes is paramount and cannot be rushed," Chapman said.

Both states are in the midst of high-profile mid-term elections with outcomes to be closely watched nationally.

Pennsylvania provided 1.4 million mail-in ballots to voters and as of Wednesday morning, 1 million were returned to election offices across the commonwealth's 67 counties.

In Florida, 2.2 million vote-by-mail ballots had been returned by Wednesday morning with another 2.1 million pending submission. Another 1.3 million ballots were cast during early voting.

With nearly double the population, Florida naturally processes more votes. Yet, when voting precincts close on Nov. 8 and votes are tallied, Floridians are expected to have results while Pennsylvanians wait at least one day or longer.

Mail-in voting

No excuse, mail-in voting began in Florida in 2002. The practice was adopted in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2020 election. It's open to any voter in either state.

In Pennsylvania, the constitutionality of Act 77 of 2019 which expanded mail-in voting was challenged and upheld by the state Supreme Court. The law and the practice of expanded mail-in voting continue to draw legal challenges. Most recently, the state Supreme Court ruled that ballots cast with incorrect or wrong dates on return envelopes not be counted, however, they're to be separated and preserved in the event of further legal action.

In 2020, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law that included the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral entity, the Election Law Advisory Board (ELAB), designed to study election law and technology and suggest potential changes.

The ELAB recommended in each of its two annual reports to state lawmakers that they establish a pre-canvassing period to process mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day.

"We had recommended a maximum 14-day period at the discretion of the county," ELAB project manager Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh said during a House committee hearing in April. "Regardless of what happens with mail-in ballots at the end of the day, right now we still have them and the counties still have to deal with them."