how Pennsylvania is organizing itself to avoid any challenge to the results

In 2020, Pennsylvania took four days to deliver its result, thus delaying the outcome of the election. To avoid the same scenario, which could generate suspicions of fraud, the authorities of this key state say they have taken the necessary measures.

Pennsylvania is one of these famous key states in the American presidential election. In question, the high number of electors, 19, which it allows to win.

And four years ago, in 2020, this northeastern state of the country delayed the result of the election. Pennsylvania, in the midst of Covid-19, was overwhelmed by the number of votes received by mail.

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It took four days before we learned that Joe Biden had won this state – ensuring him the more than 270 electoral votes needed. And therefore, that he had won the presidential election against Donald Trump.

“The machine can open 15,000 envelopes per hour”

For the election on November 5, 2024, the authorities would like to reassure the situation. “Since 2020, we have been able to improve the procedure, resize the number of staff, order more scanners,” Abigail Gardner, communications manager for Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, explains to BFMTV.

“We use a very fast envelope opener. The machine can open 15,000 envelopes per hour. We should have finished counting and be able to give all the results by midnight,” she assures.

By ensuring that there is no delay in counting, the authorities want to avoid suspicion of fraud. Suspicions already raised by supporters of Donald Trump, even though the voting has not even started.

So, when our journalist on site asks a Donald Trump voter if he thinks a defeat would be linked to fraud, he answers “absolutely, 100%”.

Lawyers mobilized

To prevent this scenario, an army of lawyers was mobilized this Tuesday, November 5 to resolve any dispute as quickly as possible and thus avoid a delay in the announcement of the result.

Within the Reed Smith firm, “20 to 30 lawyers” work for the “election protection program,” Jeffrey Wilhelm, legal advisor to the Reed Smith firm, told our microphone.

“If we see a polling station that does not open on time, we will inform the county,” he gives as an example. “In the worst case, we will go to court.”

Pennsylvania is at the heart of the desires of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, who chose to hold their last campaign meetings there this Monday. With a Democratic tradition since the 1990s, this state of rust bell (rust belt), – a nickname given to the northeastern states of the country hit by deindustrialization – voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2016, giving him a serious advantage and allowing him to become president. In 2020, it was Democrat Joe Biden who won it.

This year, the outcome of the election in this state is one of the most uncertain. THE latest polls do not clearly separate the two candidates, given within the margin of error with less than one point difference between them.