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“Keep counting” is written in capital letters on a small sign that Onna Perella is holding in her hand. The cook, who runs an independent concert hall, has parked her car in front of the Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. “I’m here to thank the poll workers,” says Perella. The young woman can’t stop raving as she talks about the count behind the mighty walls of the convention center. “They do a great job,” says Perella: “You can even follow him on the live broadcast.”
Onna Perella takes her right to vote very seriously. He had already requested his vote-by-mail papers in August. “I cast the vote in person at the polling station on October 27,” he says. “I am a huge fan of the American Post. But I didn’t want to depend on the Post for this matter. “
Onna Perella, cook and freelance concert hall operator in Philadelphia
Source: Daniel Friedrich Sturm
Like Perella, millions of Americans have, including in Pennsylvania. 2.5 to 3 million Pennsylvanians voted by letter, ten times more than in the elections four years ago. “We are approaching a 50 percent absentee vote count,” Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said Wednesday, announcing a continuous update of the count. Boockvar asked for patience.
You can find all the updates on our live ticker for the US elections.
Meanwhile, more and more eyes are turning to the breed in Pennsylvania (population 13 million). Donald Trump had the “Keystone State“She won 2016 by a minimum margin of 0.7 percentage points over Hillary Clinton. That was a sensation and paved Trump’s path to the White House. For a quarter of a century, since Bill Clinton, Pennsylvania Democrats had won. Even when, like Al Gore and John Kerry, they were beaten across the country.
But who will secure the 20 local voters for the Electoral College this year? These 20 voters are more than a cosmetic bonus in the electoral body. On Wednesday afternoon, Trump was ahead by around seven percentage points and the trend was falling. Analysts assumed that most of the votes that were still open, mainly by letter, could be deposited into Joe Biden’s account.
For Trump, Pennsylvania is about his honor. He has always presented himself as an advocate for this state, as a champion of white workers in the coal and steel industry, the so-called rust belt. “I love fracking” was Trump’s voice during the election campaign. This rock oil and gas production is “existentially significant” for Pennsylvania. Trump traveled to Pennsylvania several times to hold rallies, most recently the day before the election. Then he showed up, which was a little mean, close to Scranton of all places. Scranton is the hometown of Joe Biden. There he spent the first ten years of his life.
Biden also did his best to win over Pennsylvania. He established his campaign headquarters in Philadelphia, by far the largest city in the state. He began his intra-party election campaign for the presidential candidacy here in May 2019 (with a speech at best average and a rally with very little attendance). Biden lives just a 30-minute drive south of “Philadelphia,” and from his place of residence in Delaware he permanently crosses the border into Pennsylvania. He also appeared here several times during the election campaign and also had Barack Obama give a speech for him here.
The Philadelphia Convention Center was well secured Wednesday, with dozens of police officers standing in front of it at times. Anyone who could take a look through the windowpanes saw a hustle and bustle. Smartphones and cameras are not allowed in the counting rooms. On the live broadcast of the tally, helpers could be seen working on white and yellow boxes of ballot papers.
Count, Count, Count: Poll Workers Evaluate Vote-by-Mail Ballots at the Pennsylvania Convention Center
Quelle: dpa / Matt Slocum
While eyes increasingly turn to Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf defended the unusually slow procedure. The vote count is a “test of resistance for democracy.” You will do everything possible to ensure that every vote is counted in your state. Addressing citizens, Wolf said, “Your vote will make a difference in this election.” He will oppose any attempt to attack the elections in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania became a hotbed of misinformation. Facebook and Twitter did their best to eliminate and minimize the spread of false information about polling stations in Scranton, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. The misinformation posts have been shared thousands of times on social media and even reached the Twitter account of President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr.
The Trump campaign called for an end to Pennsylvania’s vote count on Wednesday afternoon. Not surprisingly, his lead is dwindling, and on Wednesday morning Trump even declared himself the winner of the election, without any grounds.
Onna Perella, the cook, who is so grateful to the poll workers, sees no problem in the tedious counting process. “We are in the middle of a pandemic. It is a unique situation ”. He doesn’t understand why Republicans are critical of the counting process. “It’s generally the Republicans who value the fact that the federal states have their own laws and act on them.” More by the way (“I hope my status turns blue”) Perella reveals who he voted for. Blue is the color of the Democrats. But there is one thing he has no illusions about: “The race in Pennsylvania will be extremely close.”
