Why Pennsylvania could be one of last states to count ballots this Election Day

With four days until Election Day, Mayor Cherelle Parker and Philadelphia city commissioners are urging people to vote.

Officials on Thursday escorted the media through a warehouse in Northeast Philly known as Philadelphia Election Headquarters. Every ballot placed in the city, whether in person or by mail, ends up at the warehouse to be counted on Election Day.

As mail-in ballots are returned, they are first sorted by a huge machine that separates the envelopes by ward and division.

Then, they are stored securely behind locked cages and won't be touched until Tuesday.

Unlike most states, Pennsylvania doesn't allow workers to start processing mail-in ballots until Election Day.

Then, starting at 7 a.m., workers use heavy-duty machines known as extractors to open the envelopes, but a person has to physically remove the ballot. From there, election workers sit at long tables and flatten the ballots before they are scanned and counted.

It's a meticulous process, and commissioners said it would be more efficient if Pennsylvania could change the law and start the process prior to Election Day.

"This should be an easy fix for the legislature to do. Blue states and red states have pre-canvassing ahead of Election Day. It's a pretty standard election administration practice. It allows us to review the envelopes and to extract the ballots in advance of Election Day so the results can be ready to go as soon as polls close," City Commissioner Seth Bluestein said. 

City commissioners said they're still waiting for more than 40,000 people to return their mail ballots. 

"The trends are showing not as high of a turnout as we would like, so I really want people to come out and make your voices heard. And if you have a mail ballot still in your possession, we really need you to return your ballot, but it's too late to put it in the mail because these ballots need to be in our possession by 8 p.m. on Election Day," Bluestein said.

Commissioners said people should drop off their mail-in ballots at one of the 38 ballot boxes placed around the city.

The city also has a list online that shows ballots that have problems and cannot be counted unless they are changed. Find out how to check your ballot here.