Article Summary –
Philadelphia’s mail ballot counting lags behind Allegheny County due to outdated equipment and less staffing, processing 5,000 ballots per hour compared to Allegheny’s 12,000. New equipment is available but not fully utilized amid concerns about ballot damage. Legal and procedural changes could improve speed.
In 2020, Philadelphia processed mail ballots at a rate of 5,000 per hour, while Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh and surrounding municipalities, processed more than 12,000 ballots per hour. Philadelphia has new equipment that could speed up counting, though election officials are undecided on its use this year.
A few minor changes could allow Philadelphia to process mail ballots faster and finish counting sooner after polls close on Election Day, an analysis by Votebeat and Spotlight PA finds.
The analysis highlights a disparity between Allegheny and Philadelphia—Pennsylvania’s two largest counties—in mail ballot counting speed during the November 2022 election.
Philadelphia processed 5,000 ballots per hour, while Allegheny County, based on county data and Pennsylvania Department of State information, processed over 12,000 ballots per hour.
Philadelphia officials blame counting delays on a state law permitting ballot processing only on Election Day morning, but outdated equipment and understaffing are also factors.
Philadelphia has machines that can open ballot envelopes faster than current equipment. Yet, as of Oct. 15, the city planned to use older machines this November, with election decision-makers divided on this approach.
Accuracy and rapid ballot counting are crucial, as delays can fuel mistrust in election results.
How Philadelphia and Allegheny diverge on the same task
Allegheny County and Philadelphia mostly follow similar procedures.
Election workers start by checking mail ballot outer envelopes for defects, such as missing dates or signatures.
Ballots are then run through a machine that opens the outer envelope. In both counties, workers remove the secrecy envelope, run it through the machine, and flatten ballots for scanning and counting.
City Commissioner Lisa Deeley noted that state law prevents opening mail ballot envelopes before 7 a.m. on Election Day. Commissioner Seth Bluestein echoed this to the Philadelphia Inquirer in September.
Changing the law to allow early processing would help. However, as many counties have shown since the 2020 presidential election, sufficient staffing and equipment can enable same-day mail ballot counting.
Allegheny County’s success is attributed to its high-speed envelope-opening machine, the Bluecrest Vantage, which can open up to 50,000 envelopes an hour. The county also uses three Opex Omation 306 machines for smaller jobs, capable of opening 40,000 envelopes an hour.
Philadelphia has 22 Opex extraction desks, each opening up to 3,600 ballots per hour, according to the manufacturer.
Records show Philadelphia purchased four faster Opex Omation machines this summer. The city also uses a Bluecrest machine for sorting, not opening, ballots.
Commissioner Deeley opposes using new equipment to open envelopes due to potential ballot damage, requiring time-consuming duplication. “Our priority is accuracy over speed,” she stated.
Chairman Omar Sabir is open to testing the new machines. “That’s like buying a Corvette and [you] don’t drive it,” he said.
Subtle differences in operations may explain speed disparities. Allegheny County will have 200 to 220 staff on Election Day, while Philadelphia plans two shifts of 150 workers each and a third overnight shift of 90.
Philadelphia batches ballots throughout the process for accuracy, unlike Allegheny County, which prioritizes speed and integrity without batching.
Philadelphia also performs pollbook reconciliation, comparing in-person voter names to mail ballot senders to prevent duplicate voting, contributing to previous delays but expected to be quicker with electronic pollbooks.
Why mail ballot processing will be much faster than in 2020
Counties’ mail ballot processing capabilities have improved since 2020, when Pennsylvania faced long result waits, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said in Gettysburg.
Counties now better organize counting, staff sufficiently, and use new equipment thanks to state funding, with mail voting declining post-pandemic.
Votebeat and Spotlight PA contacted counties to determine mail ballot processing speeds and found many, if not most, should complete counting on Election Day.
Philadelphia aims to tabulate 75,000 to 100,000 mail ballots shortly after 8 p.m., while Allegheny County plans to finish all ballots by the same time.
Pre-canvassing could improve efficiency, but counties must pull hundreds from regular jobs for election duties, noted Lisa Schaffer of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
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Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Pennsylvania’s free newsletter here.
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