SUNBURY, Pa. — More than two million people in Pennsylvania have voted by mail this year, and counting those ballots is a time-consuming process.
Nearly 9,000 mail-in ballots have been returned in Northumberland County, and election officials started counting them at 7 a.m. Tuesday. There is a viewing area outside the counting room, and Newswatch 16 got a glimpse at the process.
Election officials in Pennsylvania are expecting a record-high voter turnout for this year's election. With more than two million mail-in ballots returned, it could be days until we know all of the results. Northumberland is one of the counties that is expected to have its results on time.
"The last time we ran the report, it was about 8,600 returned ballots out of about 11,000 requested," said Nathan Savidge, Northumberland County's director of elections.
Savidge's department started processing mail-in ballots at 7 a.m.
"The scanning room is going full force. We have four scanners, and we have an automatic letter opener. Our chief clerk is running the room right now. That's kind of her project to take on, to run the scanning room."
Poll watchers and politicians who applied for certificates are able to watch the ballots being processed through a window.
"No one is allowed into this room. The doors are all locked, and there is a security guard standing outside," Savidge explained. "I myself have been able to go in and out of the room as the director of elections, but other than that, if anybody is needed, we knock on the door, and somebody comes to them."
Before the counting process started, the ballots were kept behind three locked doors and a security guard.
"They were scanned in and then sorted by precinct in a locked room, and then they were moved last night so we could begin the counting and scanning process today."
Election officials in Northumberland County expect to finish counting the mail-in ballots Tuesday night. You have until 8 p.m. to drop them off if you haven't already.