Special Report: Why the Pennsylvania vote count might throw U.S. into political crisis

An "I voted today" sticker is seen on the ground at Philadelphia's City Hall, an early voting location for the upcoming presidential election, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Here in the birthplace of American democracy, election officials are scrambling to prepare for a presidential vote they fear could plunge the nation into a historic political crisis.

Philadelphia’s Board of Elections plans to move its counting operations to a 125,000-square foot space in the city’s convention center. Dozens of staffers, feeding expensive new machines to open envelopes and process mail-in ballots, will spend days tallying hundreds of thousands of votes - under intense scrutiny from partisan observers. The workers likely will discard thousands of ballots that are not properly completed or do not arrive in a special “secrecy envelope.” Outside, police officers redeployed from their neighborhood districts will conduct round-the-clock patrols to guard against violence among protesters, a police source told Reuters.