Ron DeSantis slams Pennsylvania for not being able to guarantee final results on election night

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said Sunday that if Florida can deliver voting results on election night, there’s no reason “this cannot be done in every state in America,” including Pennsylvania. 

"Florida elections have millions more votes cast than in PA elections, yet we count the votes and report the results on election night — and do so in an efficient and transparent manner,” DeSantis posted on X Sunday.

"There is no reason why this cannot be done in every state in America.""

https:/twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1822636520521470252

DeSantis was responding to an announcement from the Pennsylvania Department of State that the results of the state's upcoming election may not be known on election night.

The Pennsylvania Department of State declared "Pennsylvanians won’t always know the final results of all races on election night. Any changes in results that occur as countries continue to count ballots are not evidence that an election is ‘rigged.’” The post included a link to a website designed to fact-check claims about election results in the state.

The announcement for many brought to mind the 2020 election when initial results in Pennsylvania appeared to favor President Donald Trump as polls closed. However, as mail-in ballots were counted in the following days, Joe Biden was declared the winner in Pennsylvania. The prolonged counting process has frustrated some critics who argue that state election results should be finalized and made public on or immediately following November 5.

Pennsylvania’s legislature did not respond to demands to regulate mail-in ballots by allowing their pre-canvassing to accelerate the counting process, according to The Washington Post.

The state remains one of the highly contested, electoral college-rich battleground states that could decide a presidential election in a close race. If a presidential winner hinges upon the decision in Pennsylvania, voters might have to wait for several days to learn the outcome.

“If the electoral college comes down to Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, we might still face a long period where we don’t know the winner,” explained Rachel Orey, an elections expert with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

While Trump was comfortably ahead in a match-up with President Joe Biden, that lead has closed with Vice President Kamala Harris leading the Democratic ticket and the two are apparently neck and neck. Trafalgar had Trump ahead by two points against Harris in a recent poll, while The New York Times/Siena had Haris four points up on Trump..