Posted by Scott Kraus

This just in from the Bucks County Board of Elections: All absentee ballots about 8,000 of them, will be counted on Wednesday. That means that if it’s at all close, the 8th Congressional District race between Republican Mike Fitzpatrick and Democrat Patrick Murphy won’t be decided until then.

Here’s the procedure: just announced by the county in a press release:

“On October 29, the Bucks County Board of Elections determined that absentee ballots will be held at the Board of Elections for the November 2, 2010 General Election. The procedure for counting these ballots will take place as follows:

• Absentee ballot counting will begin at 12 noon on Wednesday, November 3;
• Ballot counting will take place in the Community Room of the Bucks County Courthouse, 55 E. Court St., Doylestown, PA 18901
• The plan is to have the ballots counted by the employees of the county Board of Elections. This plan includes the use of at least 10 staff members, working in teams of two;
• Each of the two major political parties will be permitted to have five (5) watchers at any one time monitoring the count. Names of the watchers must be submitted to the county Board of Elections prior to the beginning of the count. They may not participate or interfere with the vote counting process;
• Members of the public will also be permitted to observe. They may not participate or interfere with the vote counting process;
• Absentee ballots of voters who voted in person at the polls on Election Day will be voided by the ballot counters;
• Ballots will be secured by the County of Bucks Security officers;
• If counting is not complete on Wednesday, November 3 by 8 p.m., this procedure will continue each day thereafter from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., until all eligible ballots have been counted. “