This is exactly what I’ve been worried about:

Philadelphia election officials stopped counting mail ballots Thursday and may not start again for days, warning that the outcomes of a number of races in Tuesday’s primary won’t be known for several weeks and that the city may miss a legal deadline for certifying the results.

The delay is due to the large number of mail ballots voters requested in the last week before the deadline, Deputy City Commissioner Nick Custodio said. He said the commissioners, who run Philadelphia elections, stopped counting them so workers can check poll books to ensure nobody voted twice.

Almost half of the votes cast Tuesday in Pennsylvania’s largest city will remain uncounted until next week.

“The outcomes of some races will not be known for weeks, and the candidates and campaigns should be prepared for that,” Custodio said Friday during a meeting of the city commissioners.

State law requires all votes be counted and certified to the state within 20 days of an election. That might not happen, Custodio said. He said at the meeting that the commissioners would look for ways to improve the process over the next several months “so that we are able to timely certify the November general election.”