Pennsylvania counties use police escorts and sealed bags for ballots

Pennsylvania counties use police escorts, sealed containers, and chain of custody documentation to secure ballots transported from polling places to county facilities after polls close on Election Day. In Philadelphia, police officers collect ballots from precincts in sealed canvas bags and bring them to headquarters. In Allegheny County, poll workers deliver ballots in locked bags to regional reporting centers before county police escort them to a surveilled warehouse.¹

In Dauphin County, election judges return ballots in sealed boxes to the elections office.¹

What happens after ballots arrive

The county board of elections canvasses its returns, sends unofficial results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by the Tuesday after the election, and then files its certified results.² Unofficial county returns are due by 5 p.m. on November 10 and become final five days later, November 15, if no recount is sought.³