Pennsylvania Special Election

Updated Vote Counting + Certification Report

Hi everyone – 

Last week, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which of course means we're not done with election season yet. Tomorrow, Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County is holding three special elections to fill vacancies in the state House: Legislative Districts 32, 34, and 35. 

We took this opportunity to update our Pennsylvania Research Report on vote counting and election certification — take a look.

Below are a few vote counting and certification process points to expect following tomorrow’s election (full details are available in our report). 

Pennsylvania Election Vote Counting and Certification Processes

The Initial Count

The District Election Boards will begin tallying in-person Election Day votes at polling places tomorrow (February 7) night after the polls close at 8 p.m. Allegheny County Board of Elections will tally mail ballots centrally starting as early as when the polls open at 7 a.m. No results from either the in-person tallies or the mail ballot tallies will be made public until polls have closed. 

After the polls close, unofficial results will be shared on the Allegheny County Election Results website, which links to individual returns pages for LD 32, LD 34, and LD 35. Allegheny County is required to submit these unofficial returns to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by 3 a.m. the night of the election. 

The County Canvass and Certification

Allegheny County will typically begin the vote canvass on Election Day or the next day. The County Board of Elections is required to begin this process before 9 a.m. on Friday. By 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 14, Allegheny County must submit the official results of the canvass to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. These results remain unofficial for five days to allow for any recounts.

There is no official date by which the Secretary of the Commonwealth must certify the election results, nor a deadline for when the newly elected legislators must be seated. 

For more details on the count, canvass, and certification in Pennsylvania, see our research report here. 

As always, drop us a note if you have any questions or suggestions. We will continue to update this report, and all of our research reports, regularly.