Your Questions Answered: What Can I Expect on Election Day?

Pennsylvania utilizes about 45,000 poll workers to staff 9,000 voting locations in communities across the state on Election Day. These dedicated friends, neighbors and co-workers – people from both parties – undergo rigorous training to become experts on the rules and laws of the election process to ensure everything runs as planned. They put in long hours, and they take their jobs seriously.

Here’s what you can expect on Nov. 5.

In Pennsylvania, voting on Election Day happens in a 13-hour period. Bipartisan teams of poll workers open the polls – the place where you go to cast your vote in person – at 7 a.m. and close in-person voting at 8 p.m. Any voter in line by 8 p.m. is still allowed to vote. So, if you’re in line, stay in line.

State law does not permit counties to begin processing absentee and mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. This process includes a review of each ballot return envelope to verify that a voter is entitled to vote, and that the voter has signed a declaration on the back. Verified return envelopes are opened, and the ballots are extracted, flattened and scanned.

Ballots cast in-person are typically tabulated at precincts using scanners or ballot marking equipment. Tabulation reports from a specific precinct or machine can be made available when polls close.

With mail-in ballots, however, the total processing time can vary significantly, depending on the staff and equipment available in the county and the volume of ballots returned. It is possible (and even likely) that the final tally of mail-in ballots is not finished on election night – and that’s OK. It’s about getting it right, not doing it fast.

Unofficial vote tallies for candidates will shift over time as in-person, absentee and mail-in ballots are canvassed and reported. That means the vote count being reported by news networks on election night are largely just estimates. The final vote tallies won’t be official until every vote in every precinct has been counted. With millions of Pennsylvanians casting absentee and mail-in ballots and voting in person, this will take time.

Transparency is a key part of the process. Authorized representatives selected by candidates and political parties are permitted to observe ballot processing and report issues to election officials or to their respective campaign or party.

Pennsylvania’s election process is among the strongest and most secure in the nation, with tried-and-tested systems that ensure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly. That’s why you can trust our elections are safe, secure, accurate and fair.