Kathy Boockvar, Pa. secretary of state: Majority of ballots will be counted within ‘days’

Kathy Boockvar, the secretary of the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania, said Sunday that voters should ignore the legal wrangling over ballot-counting and get their votes in as soon as possible.

She said the “overwhelming majority” of ballots in Pennsylvania will be counted “within a matter of days.”

“Elections have never been called [on] Election NIght,” she said, pointing out that ballots coming in from overseas members of the military routinely arrive up to a week after Election Day.

“Ignore the lawsuits. Ignore the hype. Just get your ballots in today,” Ms. Boockvar said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The 2020 presidential election could hinge on the outcome in Pennsylvania, which President Trump carried narrowly in 2016.

Mr. Trump repeatedly has said that he wants the election to be over on Nov. 3.

Oct. 27 was the last day to do “all-in-one early voting,” or applying for a ballot and voting it early in person, according to Pennsylvania’s voter information website.

But voters can continue to drop off their mail ballot in-person until Nov. 3 as long as they applied for it before Oct. 27.

In-person early voting in Pennsylvania ended on Oct. 27, but voters can continue to drop off their mail ballot in-person as long as they applied for it before Oct. 27.

Ms. Boockvar was appointed to her post by Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.

Mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 will be counted.

Ms. Boockvar said those ballots will be segregated out and counted separately.

“But they will be counted,” she said. “We’re going to be issuing guidance within a day explaining to the counties how to canvass. The idea is not to wait - that they should be canvassing them as soon as the 8 p.m. time frame passes [on Tuesday] and the new ballots start coming in.”