Thread by @ulleryatintell

@PAStateDept mail ballot request data shows there were approximately 2.55 million mail-in ballots returned by Nov. 3. Current processing data shows about 2.63 mail-in ballots cast. We can estimate then that about 78,000 mail ballots have been received since Election Day. 1/???

The processing data (updated hourly according to data.pa.gov) shows about 112,000 ballots yet to be counted in the commonwealth. Even if we assume that total includes all of those 78,000 newer ballots, counties are still counting ballots arriving before election day.

Part of a state Supreme Court ruling allows the state to count mail ballots arriving three days after the election and they can accept ballots without a post mark. Let's unpack why the rule might be in place next ...
bit.ly/3mZBQV9

The state's mail-in ballot request data includes a "mailed" and "returned" date column for each application. During the week leading up to the election, the average round trip time for ballots was about 12 days. The lowest 25th percentile of those ballots took a week.

That seems to suggest that a ballot without a postmark arriving today would likely have been mailed at least a week ago. I'm also not sure how many of those 78,000 ballots recently returned are your more traditional absentee ballots either.

To summarize, claims that ballots arriving after Eleciton Day in Pennsylvania are outright "illegal" are patently false. At best, it's a baseless aspersion that ignores a court ruling, current election law and (my favorite) the data.