HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania officials are imploring voters to return their mail-in ballots now and in-person at drop boxes - following a recent decision from the US Supreme Court that’s called into question the future of ballots that arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Day - and whether they’ll be counted immediately.
The latest count; about a million mail-in ballots are still in the hands of voters across the state. Current state law says if they’re delivered by mail by Nov. 6, they should be counted. But state officials are working on plans if that changes.
Pa. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar says they’re advising counties to keep the so-called late arrivals separate.
“We told the counties to segregate those ballots and just canvass them separately. So they’ll get everything else done and then those will be done separately and separately reported," said Boockvar.
It’s unclear how or if the late arrivals will be included in official state results from the election at this point. Boockvar says she doesn’t want to speculate what happens if the court invalidates those votes at a later date.
What is clear is that what happens next could impact the outcome of the presidential race if it’s close. Donald Trump won the state in 2016 by just over 44,0000 votes.
