Jonathan Lai for Philly Inquirer:

It’s a familiar election night routine: Polls close, and everyone wants to know who won — immediately. Every minute matters for Americans anxiously awaiting the results. News organizations race to meet the demand by using complex statistical models to “call” the winner long before all the votes are counted.

But get comfortable waiting: Instant electoral gratification is about to become a thing of the past.

A new Pennsylvania law that allows any voter to cast a ballot by mail, along with a surge in requests for mail-in ballots driven by fears of voting in person during the coronavirus pandemic, has set up a 2020 election in which everyone could be left waiting for days before results are known.

That might not bother the public much when it comes to the June 2 primary, with a Democratic presidential contest that has already been effectively decided. But when President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden face off in the fall, and all eyes turn to the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, delays could effectively leave the race for the White House in limbo for days.

“If nothing changes before November, I would bet my house there would be no way anybody could responsibly call the presidential race [on election night],” said Forrest Lehman, elections director for Lycoming County, in central Pennsylvania.