Delays in verifying mail-in ballots will slow tally

Voters awaiting results in some of the key presidential battleground states on election night should be prepared to keep waiting, thanks to obstacles that will slow the count for what is expected to be a crush of mailed-in ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Many states allow local officials to start processing those ballots weeks before ElectionDay or even as they arrive. But in some of the most crucial states on the electoralmap, rules prevent or give clerks little time to begin sorting ballots and verifying signatures before the election.

That’s priming a scenario in which results may come in days — or even weeks — later.

In an election cycle that has seen President Donald

Trump baselessly cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail voting, many fear that any delay in results could give the president more room to continue his attacks.

Democrats are requestingmail-in ballots at higher rates than Republicans in many states, giving rise to the notion that Trump could enjoy election night leads — a so- called “red mirage” — only to see that edge slowly vanish as mailin ballots are tallied over the days that follow.

Potential problems are looming most acutely in Pennsylvania, which is being hotly contested by Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Republican state lawmakers there have not allowed additional time to process ballots that arrive before Election Day, despite pleas from local election officials.

In Michigan, another battleground this fall, the Republican-controlled legislature has approved a measure to let clerks begin some ballot processing in cities or townships with at least 25,000 people the day before Election Day. Democrats had asked for at least three days of processing time and for no population-based limits.

“That one day can really make a difference,” said the bill sponsor, Republican Sen. Ruth Johnson, a former secretary of state.

Johnson said allotting additional days would have been difficult because the new law will require volunteer election inspectors from both major political parties to observe the removal of ballots fromtheir outer envelopes.

“You need to make sure that there’s integrity,” she said.