Don’t Expect to Know Who Won the Presidential Race on Election Day

Steelton, Pa. — Most election forecasters predict that this year’s presidential election will come down to Pennsylvania. But don’t expect to know the results on Election Day, thanks to an election law that bars officials from processing mail-in ballots until the morning of November 5.

The closer the margin, the longer results could take. In 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by roughly 80,000 votes and the state wasn’t called until Saturday morning — four days after the election. Four years later, a post–Election Day call in the Keystone State could fuel doubt in the results.