Current:Home > StocksUnder lock and key: How ballots get from Pennsylvania precincts to election offices -NextGenWealth
Under lock and key: How ballots get from Pennsylvania precincts to election offices
View
Date:2025-04-13 16:15:59
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
Police escorts, sealed containers and chain of custody documentation: These are some of the measures that Pennsylvania counties take to secure ballots while they are transported from polling places to county facilities after polls close on Election Day.
The exact protocols vary by county. For instance, in Berks County, poll workers will transport ballots in sealed boxes back to the county elections office, where they will be locked in a secure room, according to Stephanie Nojiri, assistant director of elections for the county located east of Harrisburg.
In Philadelphia, local law enforcement plays a direct role in gathering ballots from polling places.
“Philadelphia police officers will travel to polling places across the city after the polls close and collect those ballots to be transported back to our headquarters at the end of the night,” said Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, who serves on the board that oversees elections in the city. “Each precinct is given a large canvas bag, and the containers that hold the ballots are placed into that bag and transported by the police.”
After polls close in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, poll workers will transport ballots in locked, sealed bags to regional reporting centers, where the election results are recorded, said David Voye, division manager of the county’s elections division.
From there, county police escort the ballots to a warehouse where they are stored in locked cages that are on 24-hour surveillance.
Poll workers and county election officials also utilize chain of custody paperwork to document the transfer of ballots as they are moved from polling places to secure county facilities.
For instance, in Allegheny County, chain of custody forms are used to verify how many used and unused ballots poll workers are returning to county officials, Voye said. Officials also check the seals on the bags used to transport the ballots to confirm that they are still intact.
There are similar security procedures for counties that use ballot drop boxes to collect mail and absentee ballots. In Berks County, sheriff’s deputies monitor the county’s three drop boxes during the day, according to Nojiri. When county elections officials come to empty the drop boxes, which are secured by four locks, they unlock two of the locks, while the sheriff’s deputies unlock the other two.
Officials remove the ballots, count them, record the number of ballots on a custody sheet, and put the ballots in a sealed box before they transported back to the county’s processing center.
“There’s all kinds of different custody sheets and all that, again, is reconciled in the days after the election,” Nojiri said.
Philadelphia has 34 ballot drop boxes, which are emptied daily and twice on Election Day by election workers, according to Bluestein. The bags used for transporting ballots from drop boxes are also sealed, and workers who are returning these ballots complete and sign a chain of custody form.
“The transportation of ballots is done in a secure, controlled manner, and the public should have confidence in the integrity of that ballot collection process,” Bluestein said.
___
This story is part of an explanatory series focused on Pennsylvania elections produced collaboratively by WITF in Harrisburg and The Associated Press.
___
The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here.
veryGood! (46)
Related
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- Pennsylvania woman retires from McDonald's after 45 years
- A Cambodian court convicts activists for teaching about class differences, suspends their jail terms
- UK government say the lslamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is antisemitic and moves to ban it
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Joyce Randolph, 'Honeymooners' actress in beloved comedy, dies at 99
- Yemen Houthi rebels fire missile at US warship in Red Sea in first attack after American-led strikes
- Georgia leaders propose $11.3M to improve reading as some lawmakers seek a more aggressive approach
- Kehlani Responds to Hurtful Accusation She’s in a Cult
- Denmark’s Queen Margrethe abdicates from the throne, son Frederik X becomes king
Ranking
- Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
- Presidential hopeful Baswedan says Indonesia’s democracy is declining and pledges change
- Joseph Zadroga, advocate for 9/11 first responders, killed in parking lot accident, police say
- Packers vs. Cowboys highlights: How Green Bay rolled to stunning beatdown over Dallas
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- NFL wild-card playoff winners, losers from Sunday: Long-suffering Lions party it up
- Class Is Chaotically Back in Session During Abbott Elementary Season 3 Sneak Peek
- What is 'Bills Mafia?' Here's everything you need to know about Buffalo's beloved fan base
Recommendation
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Bitter cold front brings subzero temperatures, dangerous wind chills and snow to millions across U.S.
Ukraine says it shot down 2 Russian command and control aircraft in a significant blow to Moscow
Fatalities reported in small plane crash with 3 people aboard in rural Massachusetts
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
Wisconsin Republicans’ large majorities expected to shrink under new legislative maps
Bitter cold front brings subzero temperatures, dangerous wind chills and snow to millions across U.S.
UN agency chiefs say Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster, warning of famine and disease