Pennsylvania is heading toward a disastrous train wreck regarding the counting of mail-in ballots, and that could have consequences for the rest of the country.

Under state law, the opening of mail-in ballots can’t begin until 7 a.m. on Election Day. That means the counting of millions of ballots that arrived in advance by mail could go on for days without anyone knowing who won the presidential election in Pennsylvania and that state’s 20 Electoral College votes. Those 20 votes could well determine who the next president is.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican leaders of the state Legislature could have avoided the situation if they had put aside their partisan differences and worked together to give election officials more time in advance to start processing — but not counting — the mail-in ballots. Instead, it was more of the same political bickering that dominates Harrisburg.

There had been negotiations between the two sides to change the law and allow the ballot envelopes to be opened and prepared for scanning before the election, but they were far apart in their demands and failed to compromise.

And frankly, there was no reason to make this a political negotiation. Allowing election officials to start preparing the ballots for counting early, something that goes on in numerous other states, would benefit neither party. Instead of making this a commonsense change to speed up the counting, politics prevailed once more.

Now it’s too late for compromise, and it’s all regrettable, especially for election officials across the state who will have to deal with counting an estimated 3 million mail-in ballots along with conducting in-person voting at the polls on Election Day.

But it’s even more troubling for the general public as there could be all sorts of shifting vote totals for days before the final vote is determined. There could be legal challenges on both sides with judges, not voters, deciding the election.

Ironically, the whole issue of mail-in balloting came about in Pennsylvania due to a grand compromise last year. In exchange for Republicans agreeing to ease restrictions on mail-in voting, Mr. Wolf and Democratic lawmakers agreed to end straight-party voting used by mostly older Democratic voters.

Was another grand compromise possible? In the world of Pennsylvania politics, apparently not. Pennsylvanians could now end up with a tremendous amount of uncertainty, confusion and consternation in the days after the election.

We wouldn’t be facing this situation if the governor and Republican leaders had done their jobs.

First Published: October 30, 2020, 9:29 a.m.