YOUNGSTOWN, Pennsylvania — Pull up to what is now known as the Trump House, and it is not out of the ordinary to come face to face with a constant flow of curiosity-seekers — hundreds on a weekday, thousands on a weekend. Some go to get signs, some pose for photos in front of the massively oversized cutout of President Trump, some go to register to vote for the first time in their lives, and some are switching their registration from Democrat to Republican.
It is a hub of enthusiasm not just for the president, but to exercise their vote come Election Day.
Pull up to the upper-middle-class suburbs the next county over in Allegheny County, and the well-manicured lawns of the well-heeled suburban neighborhoods are dotted with Joe Biden signs, running almost like a set of neatly stacked dominoes in a string of neighbors’ yards.
Voters in Pennsylvania, whether they are supporting Trump or Biden, are ready to vote. They might not have figured out yet if they will be mailing in their vote or using an absentee ballot, dropping their mail-in ballot at a drop box or voting in person. But voters know the risks, are figuring out what suits them best, and are ready to vote.
Since the pandemic began, just as the Pennsylvania primary was about to occur, they have weathered a delayed primary, a new mail-in voting process that was already set to debut before the pandemic began, stood in line at drastically reduced in-person voting precincts, and with a handful of exceptions, waited through long delays in wanting to know who won the primary contests.
“The primary was supposed to be a test run to iron out the kinks of what happens once the ballots are received by individual county officials,” explained Larry Ceisler, a Democratic media professional based in Philadelphia.
Ceisler said that many expectations were met and that many weren’t. “They’re hoping they can get it done. But I think what you’re seeing is that the people who run elections and elected officials are trying to lower expectations. I think that everybody’s concerned that if you don’t have that count done, especially if it’s a close election, in some of these states, that bad things could happen. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants bad things to happen,” he said.
Pushing those lower expectations is probably wise, particularly after the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania state Supreme Court guaranteed last week when they overruled the state law that says absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Now, there is a three-day extension to receive ballots that are postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Ballots that have a pre-election postmark now will be counted if they are received three days after the polls close.
In short, don’t expect to see Pennsylvania called for one candidate or the other on election night. Or the day after that. Or the day after that.
In fact, it may take a week to know Pennsylvania’s results.
So, while voters have made all of the adaptations the government has required of them to vote, the state government and the state supreme court have done everything they can to extend the process unnecessarily when no extension was needed. The only people who got it wrong during the primary were on the processing end, not on the voting end.
Seven months into the pandemic, voters know how to behave safely in public. They know how to fill out a form for a mail-in or absentee ballot, they know they can use a drop box, and they know they can go vote in person.
Joe Thomas, who was picking up “Pro-Life for Trump” lawn signs at the Cambria County Republican headquarters, does not understand why the date was extended. “It is really not that hard to be responsible enough to vote by mail a few days before or in person that day,” he said.
June’s primary was the first time Keystone State residents used mail-in ballots. Before, voters only had access to the absentee ballot process, a restrictive process that was used by less than 5% of voters.
Last year, the state legislature passed a law that loosened those restrictions. Between the new accessibility requirements and the pandemic, mail-in votes were 17 times higher than normal, causing delays in many counties, including Philadelphia. More Pennsylvanians voted by mail than voted in person for the first time in the commonwealth’s history.
The Trump campaign has gone all-in here in the Keystone State. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have made multiple visits to the state in the past few weeks, and voters can expect more soon. Biden has done several events in Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Philadelphia as well. In several polls, the race has tightened to within the margin of error.
Two things we know about the eventual outcome: It’s going to be close, and it could come down to those ballots arriving at 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 when the last ballot is accepted at one of 67 county election offices across the state.
