Can Philadelphia’s ballot counters outrun election lies?

The country wherever it happens has metallic beams and harsh overhead lighting. Paper whizzes done conveyor belts connected ample gears adjacent tall, human-sized cages with keypad locks. 

Though it resembles one, this is not a factory. It’s Philadelphia’s mail-in ballot-counting facility, wherever determination astir 200,000 votes are expected to beryllium tallied opening connected Election Day. The longer that tally takes, the much misinformation could seep into a heavy good of paranoia and distrust implicit the antiauthoritarian process — 1 that overflowed 4 years agone successful a convulsive onslaught connected the US Capitol.

The stakes, you could say, are high.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes could determine whether erstwhile President Donald Trump oregon Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 statesmanlike election. Many of the state’s ballots person already been formed done the mail. Yet Pennsylvania’s laws prohibit adjacent opening to process mail-in ballots until 7AM connected Election Day. The effect tin beryllium a superior hold successful reporting predetermination results — successful 2020, The Associated Press didn’t telephone Pennsylvania arsenic having been won by Joe Biden until 4 days aft Election Day.

The state’s solution is simply a downright concern ballot-counting process, which elected officials invited reporters to preview (using trial ballots for objection purposes) successful precocious October. It’s a highly regimented process that takes spot successful a sprawling warehouse successful northeast Philadelphia, filled with the sounds of whirring ballot-sorting machines and the changeless rifling of paper. On Election Day, workers volition unfastened hundreds of thousands of mailed ballots and provender them into machines that work and number them, keeping a cautious oculus connected monitors flagging immoderate irregularities. The scanned ballots volition besides beryllium watched by predetermination observers from each governmental party. “We bash it right,” says Philadelphia City Commissioners seat Omar Sabir, a Democrat. 

The city’s property circuit is portion of a broader effort to amended voters and reassure them that voting is safe, secure, and trustworthy. It’s an attempted bulwark against mendacious claims astir ballots being inaccurately tallied, flipped, oregon destroyed to skew predetermination results.

Lisa Deeley, Democratic vice seat of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, says she doesn’t expect arsenic agelong of a hold arsenic 2020. Mail-in voting was an unusually fashionable enactment that twelvemonth owed to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. But erstwhile conspiracies tin ricochet crossed societal media successful seconds, each hr counts. “The much radical perceive things, unfortunately, the much inclined they are to judge them,” she says.

As Deeley explains, predetermination workers are “starting from ceramic one” connected Election Day. That means not conscionable tallying who votes for whom, but reviewing the signatures connected sealed envelopes, removing them from their secrecy sleeves, and flattening the ballots themselves. Commissioners person been “begging” for reforms to this process, Deeley says. Absent these changes, they’re near with method and procedural solutions similar buying caller instrumentality and relying connected much experienced predetermination workers — shaving clip disconnected the timepiece immoderate mode they can.

“We cognize that the eyes of the satellite are going to beryllium connected Philadelphia,” City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, told reporters gathered successful the warehouse. “We are going to tally the safest, astir unafraid predetermination successful Philadelphia history.” 

The process of tallying ballots — arsenic I and different reporters see, shuffling down Sabir astir the 360,000-square-foot country — starts with what looks similar an oversized Xerox machine. It feeds ballots successful sealed envelopes into a conveyor loop connected 2 gears and spits them retired crossed a agelong track, sorting them into antithetic slots based connected ward and division. The instrumentality scans barcodes connected the envelopes, each 1 linked to a registered voter’s ID to people the ballots arsenic “received” truthful 1 elector can’t nonstop aggregate votes. If it was mailed without a signature oregon not placed successful its included secrecy envelope, it’s acceptable speech and added to a database that voters tin check, letting them close the occupation with a replacement ballot. 

This is arsenic acold arsenic workers tin get earlier Election Day, truthful the sorted envelopes spell into unafraid retention until the greeting of November 5th. Then, astatine the ace of dawn, the number begins. Twenty-two envelope extractors, built astir desks wherever workers volition assistance abstracted the envelopes from their contents erstwhile opened, tally astir 1,000 envelopes each per hour. Four accelerated slicing machines unfastened the yellowish secrecy envelopes wrong those envelopes astatine a complaint of astir 10,000 per hour. Workers region the ballots from the now-opened secrecy envelopes — and since this process is separated from erstwhile the ballots are removed from their outer envelopes, it ensures votes enactment anonymous. Now patted flat, the ballots scope the measurement this full process is gathering up to: the count.

An predetermination scanner is fundamentally a gigantic Scantron machine, with a stretched-out metallic S-shape that ballots glide done arsenic the instrumentality reads the marks voters person made. This warehouse has 8 high-speed scanners, each 1 expected to cheque astir 2,500 ballots per hour. (Four further slower scanners tin work 1,000 per hour.) Some ballots can’t beryllium work — if they’ve been marked with a light-colored pen oregon had mistakes erased with Wite-Out, for instance. A unit of nonpartisan civilian servants reappraisal these and people the voter’s choices onto replacement ballots, which tin past beryllium scanned.

Election observers — who are selected by each enactment — volition ticker screens showing the ballots to assistance guarantee everything is adjudicated fairly. Finally, the processed ballots spell into different locked retention area. They volition yet beryllium kept successful semipermanent retention for the 22 months mandated by instrumentality — just successful lawsuit they’re needed for a recount. 

As this number is taking place, an opposing process volition beryllium spinning up: a disinformation apparatus that aims to person voters the predetermination is being rigged.

In 2020, this process coalesced into the “Stop the Steal” predetermination denial movement, culminating successful an effort to overturn the predetermination of President Joe Biden by force. In 2024, it’s already gotten started. A radical of Republicans including House Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), who voted to prolong objections to the 2020 predetermination results, sued Pennsylvania’s authorities government, demanding subject and overseas ballots beryllium acceptable aside due to the fact that of what predetermination experts telephone unfounded doubts astir the process. (It was besides precocious tossed by a judge.) Election deniers person gained seats connected important authorities and section bodies that could springiness them leverage implicit election certification. And online, Trump mega-donor Elon Musk has acceptable up an X assemblage for reporting “voter fraud and irregularities,” which has already filled up with unfounded claims. 

For Philadelphia’s City Commissioners, misinformation is personal. Sabir smiles arsenic helium relates 1 of the “craziest” conspiracy theories: a blog station that claimed helium was personally taking ballots to a mobster successful Atlantic City, New Jersey, to beryllium destroyed. (It’s not wide wherefore the mobster needs them trucked retired much than 60 miles conscionable to beryllium shredded.) “We’re not doing brainsick stuff. We’re conscionable trying to travel to bash our occupation for the American people,” Sabir says.

The threats aren’t ever amusing. Bluestein told The Verge that, while ballots were being counted successful 2020, helium received antisemitic threats. The harassment got truthful atrocious that Bluestein had constabulary extortion astatine his location the week of the election.

So far, “the vigor is down” successful 2024, helium says. But predetermination officials astir the state are inactive connected precocious alert. In Maricopa County successful Arizona, different plaything state, an authoritative precocious said information volition beryllium disposable to escort predetermination workers to their cars. The authorities is besides preparing for cutting-edge risks similar infiltration by artificial quality scams, a script the unit roleplayed past year.

Bluestein himself is trying to spot and telephone retired mendacious accusation online. In 1 case, helium debunked an allegation — shared connected X by Musk — that a nonprofit offering services to low-income and houseless individuals harvested thousands of mail-in ballots from 1 address. (Bluestein says “fewer than 150 ballots” were mailed determination successful 2020.)

His progressive relation online is partially due to the fact that helium feels that societal media platforms “are not doing arsenic bully a occupation arsenic they did successful 2020” with combating misinformation. Four years ago, platforms were connected precocious alert for mendacious claims, adjacent if they often failed to enforce their policies effectively. In 2024, the concern is different. Under unit from Trump and his allies to instrumentality a much hands-off relation erstwhile it comes to predetermination misinformation, many tech companies person relaxed the policies they had successful spot past clip around. Meta and YouTube some rolled backmost rules against mendacious claims that the 2020 predetermination was stolen, and some Meta and X person made it more hard for researchers connected their platforms to entree information utilized to show emerging threats.

At the aforesaid time, some Bluestein and Sabir accidental they haven’t yet seen the aforesaid level of targeted harassment and threats. Bluestein says broader misinformation claims are circulating, but helium hasn’t recovered arsenic galore claims that azygous retired circumstantial officials oregon rank-and-file workers. Despite harassment successful 2020, helium says Philadelphia had nary occupation recruiting canvass workers oregon staffers astatine the warehouse. “I deliberation everyone understands the value of this work, and they recognize that portion determination could beryllium risks associated with it, they’re each signing up to bash the job.”

Misinformation often picks astatine tensions that already exist. Black Americans, for example, are already a radical commonly targeted by disenfranchisement efforts, which Sabir says results successful “misconceptions astir ‘my ballot doesn’t count.’” Add disinformation to that, and Sabir says it drives a conception done this assemblage of “What americium I doing? Why americium I wasting my time?” 

Bluestein has recovered that helium tin transportation voters done one-on-one conversations. But during that time, mendacious claims tin scope millions of voters online. “When you standard that up to physique trust, it’s a batch harder,” Bluestein says. “But erstwhile you truly archer radical the facts and amusement them, they volition person much faith.”

While predetermination officials effort to transportation skeptics, predetermination deniers person accrued their attacks against the medication of the voting process itself. In 2020, predetermination deniers “used convulsive rhetoric arsenic the means to suppress the ballot and marque it harder for folks to vote, oregon marque the voting process look scary and intimidating,” says Deborah Hinchey, Pennsylvania authorities manager for the nonpartisan nonprofit All Voting is Local. This year, she is seeing predetermination deniers usage “administrative tactics to bash the aforesaid happening — to suppress the vote, to marque it look an intimidating and overwhelming process, and to marque folks consciousness similar their ballot whitethorn not beryllium counted.”

But Hinchey says those efforts volition fail. In 2020, Trump lawyers and different allies brought galore cases to alteration the predetermination results aft the fact. Those suits invariably fizzled, and immoderate of the lawyers who filed them person been sanctioned oregon disbarred. “The investigation present seems to be, ‘Well, past let’s spell straight for the votes themselves, and discredit definite kinds of voters and marque it look similar definite radical are voting that are not, truthful that we tin past onslaught each votes.’”

As for trust, a September Spotlight PA poll by MassINC Polling Group recovered that 63 percent of respondents were precise oregon somewhat assured that votes successful the statesmanlike contention would beryllium counted accurately and reasonably nationally. But voters had acold much assurance successful however elections successful their ain counties would beryllium administered — 78 percent expressed assurance successful the results.

Organizers are seeing much radical wanting to get progressive successful the process of democracy, and that information tin assistance quell predetermination fears, says Susan Gobreski, president of the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia. While proceeding astir predetermination skeptics getting progressive successful the process mightiness rise immoderate reddish flags, Gobreski says it’s important to retrieve that “most radical are really acting successful bully faith.”

Arming the nationalist and the property with trustworthy accusation is simply a astute move, says Hinchey. “You can’t dispel each atrocious accusation with bully information, but you tin marque definite that organizations and the property person a truly bully knowing of however elections are really functioning successful Pennsylvania,” she says. Gobreski encourages voters to inquire questions but besides to “be prepared to perceive to the answers.”

Ultimately, Hinchey adds, astir voters are conscionable looking for reliable information. “The mean Pennsylvania elector is looking for the facts of the situation, and whitethorn instrumentality successful the falseness, but erstwhile presented with facts, is going to judge that arsenic reality.”

There’s 1 last enactment connected the array for ballot tallies: a manus count. It’s communal to audit samples of ballots by manus and comparison them to instrumentality results, confirming the machines are moving properly. (Election officials besides bash preelection investigating of instrumentality to marque definite they’re decently calibrated, often connected livestreams.) But successful states similar Georgia, predetermination skeptics person — so far, unsuccessfully — pushed for afloat manus counts of each ballot. That’s a look for mistakes and delays.

Hand-counting has an important relation successful auditing elections, says Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican. “But if you’re conscionable counting by hand, you don’t person thing to comparison it against. So erstwhile radical bash important numbers of manus counting, that’s wherever you spot much errors.” Compared to instrumentality counts, it’s besides a glacial process. “If radical are unhappy with however agelong they hold now, ideate however long” it would instrumentality without the machinery to get results, says Deeley. “It’s [like] going to Nabisco and having them marque each the cookies by scratch.”

On Election Day, the machines successful Philadelphia’s warehouse volition flip on, rifling done thousands and thousands of envelopes, slicing and scanning. Signatures volition beryllium checked and folded. Paper volition beryllium flattened. The enactment of ideology volition tally done machines and cautious quality hands. It’s a tedious process, but it’s besides 1 that’s astatine the precise bosom of the American experiment. Each ballot counted is 1 measurement person to determining if Pennsylvania volition beryllium colored successful reddish oregon bluish connected TV screens crossed the state — and perchance determining the adjacent president. And though each infinitesimal aft polls adjacent is different infinitesimal for spreading uncertainty successful America’s electoral system, Philadelphia’s officials are resolute.

“Philadelphia is the birthplace of democracy,” says Sabir. “I’ll beryllium damned if ideology dies here.”