there has been a record turnout and a
record number of postal votes as states
tried to make voting safe
during the pandemic under the rules most
voters were allowed to post their
ballots
up to and including election day even if
those ballots are then delivered after
the polling stations have closed
but the trump campaign argues that those
votes should only be counted if they
were actually
delivered on election day in the key
battleground
uh of pennsylvania the authorities say
the record number of postal votes has
put extra pressure
on their officials my colleague clive
myrie is in the state's largest city
philadelphia we join him now for the
latest
yes you there is an irony in the middle
of all this because in some of those
battleground states where there is huge
controversy over the counting of mailing
ballots and absentee ballots
as here in philadelphia and pennsylvania
it's republican lawmakers who refuse to
allow the local authorities
mainly democrats to start the process of
counting those absentee ballots
earlier in the election cycle now what
are we left with
chaos anger and recrimination
all this should be redundant now
the election ephemera of the night
before
it is the morning after election day and
as we very well knew might be the case
we are still
awaiting a result here in pennsylvania
and a handful of other crucial states in
america
conversations reflect an election still
in play
over breakfast tables this morning and
possibly dinner tables tomorrow night
and mary lorenzo are sprightly
80-somethings
who've seen a lot in their lives but
nothing like this
they got a lot of lots of votes yet
to count and yet i always say
may the better man win and let's hope
that when there are
in in office they do the right thing
period but who will be in office
it's still unclear here in philadelphia
they were counting absentee and mail-in
ballots through the night
with a million left to process by the
morning and now the trump campaign is
taking legal action in pennsylvania
you know you you do kind of expect this
the man leading the count
told me he's unconcerned i want it over
with two more than anybody else i assure
you
that being said we have to get it right
we can't get it wrong
there are no do-over do-overs when it
comes to counting elections
but why all the problems covid19
republicans were comfortable voting in
person more democrats
voted by mail that's where we are it
just so happens listen to brian
rosenwald
a former senior election official here
in philadelphia
you have to open in pennsylvania an
outer envelope check a signature
then separate out an inner envelope open
that one and then get the ballot out
it takes time when you're talking about
hundreds of thousands of ballots in some
of these counties
and the public officials in pennsylvania
in michigan wisconsin
all said it was going to take time so
you voted
back in october yeah october 23rd and in
the middle of all the chaos seemingly
forgotten
meet debbie smith who checked online
last night to see if her early vote had
been counted
and she couldn't find it it wasn't there
it just still said mail-in
are you nervous it might still not be
there i know
so now it's there it says vote recorded
okay so it's there there's really no
reason
late afternoon and other worried voters
are on the streets
they all completed their ballots in good
faith
will america respect their wishes
clive myrie bbc news in philadelphia