| Philadelphia election officials plan to use a handful of faster mail-in ballot-processing machines for the Nov. 5 election. Why it matters: The new equipment may help reduce the ballot-counting delays that held up the 2020 election. Driving the news: Philadelphia City Commissioners are preparing to use around six modern envelope-opening machines in the upcoming election, which will complement the city's fleet of machines. - That's despite lingering concerns about potential problems with the new equipment.
By the numbers: Philly voters had requested more than 186,000 absentee and mail-in ballots as of Thursday, per state data. Yes, but: With humans operating the machines, real-world conditions can significantly reduce those open rates, Bluestein noted. How it works: The new machines will open some mail-in ballot envelopes, but the ballots must still be counted in a separate machine. - The machines were tested during a past primary, but on a smaller scale. So it remains to be seen how much faster Philly election officials will count the mail-in ballots next month.
Threat level: The new equipment has the potential to damage ballots, City Commissioner Lisa Deeley warned during the recent meeting. - When Philadelphia used some of the faster envelope-opening machines in the 2020 primary, "several thousand" ballots were damaged, Deeley said. Election workers then had to hand-correct them, which was a time-consuming process.
- "This is a serious election, not a race," Deeley said. "We do not need to take unnecessary risks."
The other side: Bluestein said the faster machines, some of which were recently purchased, were tested and did not damage ballots. - He added that the newer machines have the same risk of damaging ballots as the older, slower machines.
The bottom line: The 2024 election will test whether the new equipment, and other election changes, will be enough to avoid a repeat of 2020. Go deeper | 
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