Pennsylvania tug of war over ballot counting could drag out election result

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Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania are at odds with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf over some election-related ballot counting measures just weeks before the 2020 election -- in a battle that has the potential to drag out. 

More than 2.5 million Pennsylvanians have requested mail-in ballots this election cycle, but without action taken by the state government, counties may not be able to begin processing those ballots until Election Day.

A spokesperson for Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, a Republican, said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday that Wolf threatened to veto bipartisan legislation passed weeks ago that would allow for “significant pre-canvassing options” and has only engaged in discussions at “the 11th hour.”

“There has been nothing that the governor has put on the table at this late stage that changes our caucus’s priorities as outlined in the legislation we passed more than a month ago,” the spokesperson said. "We continue to be open to further discussions with the administration about how we can make our election processes better and more secure.”

The Republican-sponsored legislation would allow the mail-in ballot counting process to begin three days before the election, though it also included measures opposed by Wolf.

A spokesperson for Wolf’s office told Fox News that he agrees that counties need more time to pre-canvas the high volume of mail-in ballots expected, but added that the legislature should pass a "clean bill."

Pre-canvassing includes sorting, verification and other processes that precede actually counting the vote.

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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that if the ballot is not mailed in a “secrecy” envelope it is to be rejected, which adds an additional step to the state's mail-in ballot counting process.

The court will also take up whether a ballot should be dismissed if a signature is markedly different than the one stored in the voter registration database.

Meanwhile, there is another ongoing battle in the court system over the timeframe for mail-in ballots to be counted. As it stands, the Supreme Court has allowed for ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 6 to be counted.

There is concern that the longer it takes Pennsylvania to tally its final vote count, the more likely it is that there will be misgivings about the security of the process.

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Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar’s office said in an emailed statement to Fox News on Wednesday that counties will be responsible for a “record volume of mail-in and absentee ballots for the November general election.”

 “The Department of State continues to advocate to the General Assembly for legislation to allow counties to begin pre-canvassing ballots in the weeks before Election Day,” Boockvar’s office said. “This critical legislative change would allow counties to carry out certain processes prior to Election Day, including things such as opening ballot envelopes, verifying the voter’s eligibility and allowing for the challenge process.”

Boockvar’s office noted that while speed is a priority, accuracy is more important.

Pennsylvania is a key battleground state in the general election – so much so that some experts believe it may even determine the outcome.