Monday was the deadline for Pennsylvania counties to certify election results as official and final. Per the Department of State, a “handful” of counties submitted certifications through the morning. By noon, the state was awaiting certification from five counties.
“The reason these counties have not yet certified is not the result of a refusal to do so, but rather because of ordinary delays in the certification process,” wrote department spokesperson Amy Gulli in a statement to LNP.
Allegheny County, for example, had 1,192 provisional ballot challenges that were appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, but then withdrawn, according to election director David Voye.
The state expects to receive all outstanding certifications from counties this week.
Slight delays in submitting certified election results is getting more common due to election litigation, according to retired Dauphin County election director Jerry Feaser. That’s especially true in presidential election cycles.
“It’s usually not an issue,” he said.
Elections workers statewide have more to do than ever before to get to certification in the 20-day window after Election Day. They have to process thousands to tens of thousands of mail-in ballots, depending on county size, due to the expansion of no-excuse by-mail voting in 2019 through Act 77.
There are also more provisional ballots than ever before, Feaser said. He served in the role from 2013 to 2023.
Counties also have to conduct a risk-limiting audit, considered the gold-standard post-election check to make sure voting machines counted results correctly, according to expert agencies like the National Academies of Sciences.
And this year, counties completed or nearly completed a recount for the U.S. Senate race before incumbent Democrat Bob Casey conceded to Republican Dave McCormick on Nov. 21.
Two additional counties said they expected to send results to the state by the end of the day Tuesday.
Montgomery County’s commissioners voted to certify their results yesterday but needed to chase down one more signature before submitting certified results to the state today, according to county spokesperson Megan Alt.
Lackawanna County certified its results at 1 p.m. Tuesday, though the elections office did not provide a reason for the delay.
Fayette and McKean counties plan to certify on Wednesday. Fayette County found three provisional ballots it meant to count but did not. Staff added those votes to the official totals on Friday because, as election director Marybeth Kuznik said, it was the right thing to do. The county then has to wait the five-day window to allow for a challenge to that decision.
McKean County completed the recount of the Senate race before Casey withdrew. The county used the recount numbers as its official results and, like Fayette, has to wait the mandatory five-day period before finalizing certification.
Certification of election results sets off a domino effect of administrative procedures to finalize the election. For example, the governor must by Dec. 11 issue a Certificate of Ascertainment for the appointment of electors who will cast votes in the Electoral College for president-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance on Dec. 17.
The electoral college votes must then be accepted by Congress on January 6 to set the stage for inauguration on January 20.
