People holding their breath to see how Pennsylvania votes in the 2020 presidential election might not want to wait up too late on election night.
While the unofficial and more immediately available results have accounted for the vast majority of votes cast in years past, a new law means a significant share of ballots might not be tallied until after Election Day, according to county elections officials. Races with razor-thin margins may be too close to call for days.
It’s an unintended consequence of changes meant to make voting more flexible and accessible, including by making absentee ballots available to everyone. Many of those mail-in ballots won’t be counted on election night — even in counties that used to include them in their initial results.