CHAMBERSBURG—Franklin County saw record-breaking voter turnout in Tuesday’s election.
In the 2016 Presidential Election, 70,985 ballots were cast from 93,018 registered voters, for a 76.31 percent turnout.
On Tuesday, 80,066 ballots were cast from 100,974 registered voters, representing a 79.3 percent turnout.
Election officials said ballots received after Tuesday, but postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by 5 p.m. Nov. 6, military absentee ballots and provisional ballots are not included in the total.
County officials began pre-canvassing (preparation of the ballots) on Tuesday morning using volunteers from various county departments to open the envelopes and prepare the ballots for counting.
The official canvass (counting of the ballots) began at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning and was completed by the end of the day. T
County officials ran 20,624 absentee and mail-in ballots through a high-speed central scanner and added these results to the 59,442 ballots cast in-person at the polls.
Authorized representatives from local Republican and Democrat parties were present for the entire pre-canvass and canvass.
On Friday, Nov. 6, the County Election Board will be counting the mail-in and absentee ballots received after Election Day but postmarked by Nov. 3 and received prior to 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.
The Election Board will also be processing the 3,287 write-ins received on Tuesday, including votes for “Mud puddle, Pickle” and “Pudgy (My dog).”
Next Tuesday, Nov. 10, the County Election Board will be counting military absentee ballots as well as hundreds of provisional ballots.
County officials said they anticipate all votes to be counted by close of business on Nov. 10.
Results for the 2020 Election, including the summary and precinct reports, may be viewed on the County’s website at www.franklincountypa.gov.
Results showing the grand totals broken down by in-person voting, mail-in ballot results and provisional ballot results may be viewed at www.electionreturns.pa.gov/.
The Franklin County Board of Elections expressed appreciation to all those involved in the election on Tuesday.
“We are grateful for our county’s dedicated poll workers, 400-plus polling place volunteers, county staff, and especially our voters who turned out in record numbers,” said Dave Keller, Chairman of the Franklin County Election Board. “Accuracy is our priority. We thank everyone for their understanding as we work through our election process to ensure that every vote is counted.”
