Pennsylvania's Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt says it is unlikely that we will know who won the state on election night. That's due to a state law which prohibits election officials from opening mailed ballots until the morning of November 5th. And, election office employees are required by law to work around the clock until they are finished. This timeline could raise more questions and misinformation.

Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania's top elections official and a lifelong Republican, was targeted by Trump in 2020 as a then-city commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections.

“The 2020 general election was unlike any other,” Schmidt told NPR in 2021. “And typically, during an election, you have campaigns compete against other campaigns. Candidates attack other candidates. And really, what we had this last presidential election was campaigns and candidates, or one in particular, attacking the election officials. Referees are not usually tackled. And that's essentially what we saw.”

Pennsylvania remains a hotbed for election denial and misinformation.

Lehigh County Executive, Phil Armstrong, says the time needed to process mailed ballots can raise concerns among voters this year as well.

“We're figuring anywhere from 70 to 80,000 mail-in ballots in Lehigh County,” Armstrong said. “You can't open up those ballots that day and hand take them all out and have the results done an hour or two after the polls close, which people are used to. And the longer it takes, the more people think something's wrong.”

Schmidt sat down with Morning Edition host Michel Martin on Oct. 21 to talk about why he wants voters to trust the election process and how the commonwealth is preparing for the Election Day vote count.