We might not know. Im Michael Smerconish in philadelphia, the final day of voting is 59 days away. That used to mean wed be that many days in a couple of hours away from figuring out who would be the next president but maybe not this year for at least two reasons. First, by all accounts, the race is razor thin. New Cnn Polling of six Battleground State shows a dead heat while harris has the edge in michigan and Wisconsin Trump has the advantage in arizona, theres no clear leader in pennsylvania, georgia, and nevada overall too close to call and its not just cnn, a variety of other respected pollsters have similar results. The real clear politics average for pennsylvania as of yesterday, trump 47. 2 who harris, 47 point to the washington post, just by illustration of another measure, nevada is a tie North Carolina and arizona, its trump by less than one. Georgia trump Plus Two michigan, harris Plus Two Pennsylvania Harris plus three Wisconsin Harris plus four curiously, youve got Polling Guru Nate silver saying that donald Trump Today has a 61. 5 chance of winning the election to Kamala Harris has 38. 3. And thats the highest trump has been since july 30, one betting market seems to agree. Poly market says theres a 53 likelihood that trump wins. Although predict it gives harris 53 odds. Heres one thing about which all observers agree. The most important state his pennsylvania were enjoying our moment in The Sun its been a few cycles now though the pennsylvania really has been the keystone to whether or not youre going to make it to the white House And Talk to democrats. Theyve always made clear the most likely pathway for them is in the Blue Wall states, were talking about pennsylvania, the daughter of the White House really runs through pennsylvania. Youre going to have to open this door, win this state in order to win the presidency for the next four years, the map has expanded a little bit more, but were still playing off in some blue states. I think pennsylvania is going to itd be The State that matters the most you can tell the candidates get the importance of the Keystone State by how theyre spending their time. And their money since the primaries on Super Tuesday back in march. The seven key Swing States have seen nearly 590 Million in political ad spending pennsylvania, the largest prize in the race far ahead of the rest with over 188. 8 million already spent at another 145 Million set to air. And just look at how much time theyre spending in pennsylvania. Harriss latest trip to pennsylvania to prepare for the debate marks her tenth visit this year while trump has Campaign Pain here nine times the Racist Close and pennsylvania matters most. Heres the potential problem. And the second reason we might not immediately know the winner as the Philadelphia Inquirer noted this week, Election Officials in pennsylvania are warning that because of inaction in harrisburg, the Swing States votes may again take days to count, creating a window for bad actors to Sow Distrust in the results. County Election Officials have been petitioning State Lawmakers to update the States Election Code for years theyve also persistently asked the general assembly to clarify questions surrounding which mail ballots can and cannot be counted to address voting Rights Litigation that has played out in pennsylvania since novembers know, since no, Excuse Mail Voting was authorized in 2019 . But as november approaches, little has changed since 2020 when former President Donald Trump used the slow Counting Process to promote unfounded claims of Voter Fraud in the wake of his defeat back in 2020, it wasnt until the saturday after the election Thats Cnn was finally able to make the call after for long tense days, weve reached a historic moment in this election we can now project the Winner Cnn projects joseph r. Biden junior is elected the 46th president. Because the United States winning the White House and denying President Trump a second term, were able to make this projection because cnn projects biden wins pennsylvania, the former Vice President. It is third run for the highest office, pulling off a rare defeat of a sitting Commander Chief so could this year be even later . Do you remember the Red Mirage and the Blue Wave that was a reference to republicans showing artificial advantage as inperson votes were counted only to see the Margin Change when mailin ballots favored by democrats were tabulated trump nevertheless used the Red Mirage to claim victory. The day after voting ended, he tweeted that people were quote, working hard to make his 500,000 Vote Advantage in pennsylvania disappear nearly five hours later, he tweeted again, we have claimed four electoral purposes. The commonwealth of pennsylvania well, pennsylvania was and remains one of seven states that does not allow Pre Canvassing of ballots until Election Day. And as the enquirer noted, this creates a strain on resources which delays the final results and other litigation is ongoing. There are issues over whether counties should count mailin ballots sent without secrecy envelopes, or whether county should notify voters if their mailin ballots are at risk of rejection because of a stake in filling out the forms. And in a third case, the States Commonwealth Court ruled that not counting votes because someone failed to put a proper date on the exterior of their mailin envelope, which arrived on time, is in violation of pennsylvanias free and equal election shins clause. And more challenges will surely arise as steve oh, Rick And Editor at Politics Pa and an Election Official in York County during the 2020 election told me if pennsylvania is as close as its been in the last two, anything will be fair game it could all create the perfect storm one candidate again, complaining of a fix while ballots are still being counted in the normal course of events, while being egged on by some elements of a partisan media and thats only the domestic story. Earlier this week, the doj accused to rush and employees of rt, the russian owned Media Outlet of working with a Tennessee Company to distribute its content to american influencers. And in july, Avril Haines since the director of national intelligence, issued a warning that iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions its enough to keep you up for the next 58 nights i want to know what you think. Go to my website at smerconish. Com. Answer Todays Poll Question, will the Election End with a smooth and peaceful transition of power . Joining me now is Pennsylvania Secretary of the commonwealth. Our schmidt, who during the 2020 election was republican Philadelphia City Commissioner secretary schmidt, nice to have you back. What is at the root of this . Why doesnt pennsylvania begin the processing of received ballots before Election Day . State law in pennsylvania doesnt permit our County Election officials to begin processing those mail in ballots until 7 00 a. M. On election morning. So plenty of other states, Red And Blue alike, allow that process to begin. Days, if not weeks in advance. So you know, the results earlier, pencil we dont have that. Its a technical problem with the technical solution that has not been addressed since 2020 it might be technical, but is it deliberate . Right. I mean, in light of 2020, you think that the commonwealth, the legislature, would have addressed this. They havent. Do you think theres a deliberate effort here too . Wow, this process to play out so that some can sow Discord And Spread Disinformation Mailin Ballot preprocessing has been a part of a number of pieces of legislation coming out of our democratic house. Or, and our republican senate. Its just, its typically coupled with if any number of other election changes that are not acceptable to the other party, our democratic house recently just a couple months ago passed a clean Pre Canvassing preprocessing bill that if the republican senate took It Up or had taken It Up, would alleviate this issue. So i wanted to talk about this today well, in advance of the election, so as to put on Peoples Radar Screen all across the country that the prospect exists, that we might not know the winner of pennsylvania on Election Night. We might not therefore know the winner of the election. On Election Night, but thats okay, its in the normal course of business you of all people remember, well, what happened four years ago. Im going to put on the Screen Something that then President Trump said about you via twitter, a guy named Al Schmidt that would be you, a Philadelphia Commissioner and socalled republican rhino is being used Big Time by the fake news its media to explain how honest things were with respect to the election in philadelphia. He refuses to look at a mountain of corruption and dishonesty. We win. How worried are you that hell do it again . And what is being done to prevent it . Well, we work very closely with our County Partners elections in pennsylvania are really run at the County Level and then they certify the results up to the Pennsylvania Department of state. So were working handinhand with them to make sure that this process can proceed as expeditiously as possible while maintaining the integrity of it. All Counting Millions of votes takes time. It has always taken time. Its just different in pennsylvania because of that Process Cant begin earlier, like a can and other states how concerned are you . You heard my setup. Im a lifelong pennsylvania. Im worried about whats to come. Are you ive been involved in Election Administration for a long time. And anyone involved in Election Administration worries about everything there are no reduce their no do overs when it comes to elections, they always have to be perfect and its important that we do our part in Election Administration and really hopeful that people on the outside candidates and campaigns are respectful and responsible in the information that they share. And not so distrust in an effort to undermine confidence in the results whats the prospect that in the next 59 days Pre Canvassing the rules that apply will be changed by the legislature and alleviating some of the concerns that you and i are discussing i cant really predict that, but what i do know is that its very rare that you have changes to the Election Code and our state or any other very close to Election Day because people get the impression its being done to try to advantage one Party Or Candidate or the other when in this case its really not okay. So final question were two months out in your capacity as secretary of the commonwealth, whats the message, if any, that youd like to deliver to the nation about the Way Pennsylvania counts ballots. What should we file away so that on Election Night in 59 days, we remember that we heard Al Schmidt i think its important that everyone be mindful of what youve discussed, that our state is a little bit different than many others. And voting by mail, which is still new to pennsylvania, is a very its been very widely accepted. Its a great method for people who especially find it difficult to make it to the polls in the 13 hours on, on Election Day that the people be patient and that we understand that our Election Workers at the County Level are working night and day, literally around the clock okay to cast to count your votes so that you can have your voice heard okay. And the way that i would say it is that if its late on Election Night and youre looking at wolf well, youre looking at John King in front of the Magic Wall and theyre saying we Cant Call pennsylvania relax. Its perhaps within the normal course of events, secretary of the commonwealth, Al Schmidt. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you. Thank, you michael what are your thoughts . Hit me up on Social Media. I will read some responses throughout the course of the program from the world of x. In both cases, i think the transition will be peaceful at the White House, but definitely not on the streets alice van kaye, i hope youre wrong. I asked this question today, but of course, fingers crossed and godwilling that it all goes smoothly and one way that i think we can all especially those of us who have a platform in ensure that it goes smoothly is to educate the public and say, this is the way that we count the ballots. It may sound a little bit arcane. We wish that it was different, especially in my home state, and that there was Pre Canvassing in this and 60 its other states but he just relax when we get there. I want to know what you think at home. Go to my website at smerconish. Com. Answer Todays Poll Question, will the Election End with a smooth and peace . Well transition of power still to come a deadly Mass Shooting inside a georgia high school sparks new conversations about the impact of Gun Violence and Mental Health new reporting suggests finding help could be trickier than you think. We explore why americans are having a hard time finding a therapist and dont forget to sign up for my hey, free and worthy daily newsletter at smerconish. Com. Check out what Scott Status drew for us yesterday a, sealant special event, the abc News President ial debate, tuesday at nine on cnn the Ergo Smart base from tempurpedic automatically response to snore. So no more hiding under your pillow because this the system actually detect snoring than adjust to help reducing dont miss our biggest sale of the year with savings up to 700 on select adjustable Mattress Sets hes coming in the driveway my daughter is being treated for leukemia a hope that she lives alone great. Had to life and that she will never forget how Mom And Eddie lover st. Jude mean. 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Com to get 20 off your firstorder Close Captioning is bronchi by Skechers Court and classics a new era of Style And Luxury has arrived Skechers Court and classics mean Sheikh Styling dripping, it comforts Skechers Court and classic the 14yearold suspected of gunning down and killing two of his classmates and two teachers at a Georgia School according to a database kept by the associated Press And Usa today in partnership with Northeastern University The Shooting was the nations 30th Mass Shooting in 2024, at least 131 people have died in such violence. And Gun Violence is the leading cause of death in our children every time these events occur, they spur an important conversation about Mental Health. This time is no different that the country is in the midst of a mental Health Crisis, is borne out in the data. In june, surgeon general Vivek Murthy issued an advisory saying Gun Violence demands a public Health Approach rather than a polarizing political response. This is a uniquely american problem that kills nearly 50,000 people a year. Well, theres something else, uniquely american about it. Within one in five u. S. Adults live Mental Illness, but only about half actually receive treatment and one reason is that labyrinth that is our Health Care System with Insurance Companies often restricting coverage, delaying treatment, and denying claims, especially among those for Brain Health a recent investigation by Npr And Propublica talked to a hundreds of M