Counting mail ballots is laborious, write Derek Hawkins and Adriana Usero for The Washington Post.

In Philadelphia, the biggest city in the most-populous swing state in the nation, it takes an assembly line of special machinery and highly trained staff to make sure that the process is completed in a timely manner.

Philadelphia election officials must ensure a smooth election while staying ahead of a flood of misinformation, as mail voting faces renewed attacks from former President Donald Trump and some of his allies.

Even though the staff works nonstop to reach the final results, it can take days to finish the count.

One of the reasons for the delay is the fact that Pennsylvania is one of just seven states where the law does not allow election officials to start processing mail ballots until 7 AM on Election Day. Meanwhile, the state allows early voting, so thousands of envelopes make their way to a 230,000-square-foot Philadelphia election warehouse days or even weeks ahead of time.

“It essentially means we’re running an in-person and mail-in election on the same day, which is really tough,” said Lisa Schaefer, head of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Read more about Philadelphia election workers and how the city’s mail ballot counting process works in The Washington Post.

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