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They're simple, clerical tasks, but when they're allowed to begin, they may help determine how soon Pennsylvania's choice for president becomes known, which in turn may determine how soon the nation knows the identity of its next leader.
Precanvassing of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania can't begin under current law until 7 a.m. Election Day, late enough that with the expected surge of mail-in voting, there could be a significant wait for definitive results, leading Democratic Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar Wednesday to plead with the General Assembly to allow precanvassing to start sooner.
It's a plea which the three local Republican lawmakers neither rejected nor embraced -- arguing instead that how much earlier precanvassing can begin must be subject to negotiation in a mix with other contentious election issues.
Precanvassing includes removal of outer envelopes, address verification, removal of ballots from inner envelopes, flattening those ballots and scanning them without being tabulated, according to information provided by state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair.
"The House has done its job," said state Rep. Lou Schmitt, R-Altoona, pointing out that House Bill 2626, which passed a month ago, includes a provision that would allow precanvassing to begin the Saturday before Election Day.
That provision would give county election workers three extra days to get through the time-consuming preparations, with an observer from each party throughout the process and penalties for rules violations.
The Democratic administration initially asked for 21 days, far too long to allow piles of open ballots to be lying around, subject to being lost or examined, such that there might be risk of information leaks on who was ahead or behind in the voting, Schmitt said.
The administration is now asking for about a week for precanvassing, and legislative leaders are in discussions, Schmitt said.
It probably would make sense to compromise between three days and seven, Schmitt said.
"We ought to be able to come up with a number everyone can live with," he said.
But there is also the issue of drop boxes, which HB 2626 would have disallowed, but which the state Supreme Court in a recent ruling approved, said state Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg.
There is an "explosion" of those boxes in some other counties, threatening a loss of election "control," he said.
It's a problem because the boxes are in many locations and there's insufficient assurance that they'll be monitored around-the-the clock by video or other means to prevent illegal stuffing or that there will be chain-of-custody assurance for transferring the contents to county election offices, he said.
For now, he's "wedded" to the three extra days, Gregory said.
Blair's election office would appreciate the extra precanvassing time, he said.
Trade-offs need to happen, Gregory said.
That three extra days sounds about right, and the counties need the extra time, Ward said.
"We have some real issues," that need to be worked out with the administration, she said. "Just to make (the election) more secure."
"Not everybody is going to get what they want," Schmitt said of potential future versions of HB 2626 that he hopes will eventually reach the governor's desk for his signature. "But it better happen pretty doggone soon," he added.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
Counties need guidance they can rely on, Schmitt said.
The issues need to be negotiated, but the governor has poisoned the spirit of cooperation by repeatedly appealing to the courts, where he has had almost unbroken success, according to Schmitt.
The recent Democratic-majority Supreme Court decision not only granted permission for drop boxes, contradicting HB 2626, but also provided an extra three days for ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive at county election offices, something Republicans opposed, Schmitt pointed out.
That executive branch appeal to the judicial branch for help undermines the constitutional setup in which the legislative branch is responsible for crafting policy, Schmitt said -- comparing Gov. Tom Wolf to King George and the court to his parliament.
Fortunately, election offices in the state's largest population centers are planning to count ballots "24/7," beginning when it's permissible, which should help speed the determination of final results, Boockvar said.
"That will help immensely," she said.
The overwhelming majority of in-person votes and mail-in votes that arrive by Election Day will be counted "within days, not weeks," the secretary predicted.
But mail-in ballots that arrive during the three-day post-election grace period, along with military absentee ballots and provisional ballots, could take longer to count, she said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.