Pennsylvania is the top prize among the battleground states. Here's what to expect in the 2024 election.

Pennsylvania was a crucial state in the 2020 presidential election, sealing victory Joe Biden's victory about Donald Trump after four days of counting votes. So it's no surprise that the Keystone State, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, is once again in the spotlight this election cycle invest time and resources there before election day.

In recent weeks, presidential candidates have been regulars in Pennsylvania, often accompanying them on the campaign trail Celebrities and fellow politicians. They made some memorable pit stops – from Harris snapping selfies Famous 4th Street Deli to Trump donning an apron during a meeting Campaign rally at McDonald's in Bucks County, which Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro calls the “swingiest of swing counties in the swingest of swing states.” Trump too returned to Butler for a rally at the same fairgrounds where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

CBS News' Battleground Tracker shows a virtually undecided race in Pennsylvania a week before Election Day. The state, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, is part of the Democrats' “blue wall,” which is seen as crucial to the party's path to the White House.

Here's what you need to know before Election Day:

Fast facts about Election Day in Pennsylvania

• Surveys open: 7 a.m. ET
• Polls closed: 8pm ET
• Postal voting deadline: Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 8 p.m. ET
• Where can you vote: Find your polling place here
• Electoral votes: 19
• Voter turnout: Government data shows that 76% of registered voters cast a ballot in 2020

Vote counting rules in Pennsylvania

Each state has its own rules when it comes to this Vote counting. In Pennsylvania, state law requires county election workers to wait until polls open on Election Day (7 a.m. ET) to begin processing — removing ballots from envelopes — and counting mail-in ballots .

Pennsylvania counties also cannot begin recording or releasing absentee voting results until after polls close at 8 p.m. ET. This means there will be a delay in announcing the final results and therefore predicting the state's winner. However, how long the delay will last is unclear.

Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes

Pennsylvania has 19 Electoral votesmaking it an important prize in the presidential race. The state had 20 electoral votes in the 2020 election cycle, but lost one in congressional redistricting that followed the 2020 census.

When will we know who won Pennsylvania?

In 2020, Mr. Biden was named the presumptive winner of Pennsylvania Late Saturday morning, Nov. 7 — the fourth day of vote counting — after taking an insurmountable lead in the state. Winning the state's then 20 electoral votes helped him surpass the 270 votes needed to win the presidency.

However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from 2020, when more voters opted to vote by mail for the first time due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. It was the first year Pennsylvania allowed no-excuse absentee voting, resulting in a record 2.6 million mail-in ballots. In 2020, 38% of Pennsylvania residents voted either early or by mail, compared to 4% in 2016, according to CBS News records.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also ruled in 2020 that mail-in ballots cannot be rejected because of mismatched signatures.

Kathy Boockvar, former secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, told CBS News that 2024 will likely look different because election officials have practiced for four more years, purchased new equipment and have a better idea of ​​how much staff they need become.

“On election night, no one knows who will win or lose. We hope to count the ballots safely, accurately and thereafter as quickly as possible,” Boockvar said.

According to the Associated Press, in 2020, about 54% of all votes cast were reported as of noon ET after Election Day. According to Boockvar, the “overwhelming majority of ballots” in 2020 were counted from Thursday night to Friday morning.

Boockvar estimates that this year, given all the lessons learned from 2020 and the improvements made to the counting system, the majority of ballots will be counted by the end of Wednesday instead of Thursday, which could help speed up the process of determining a winner.

However, if the race is close, this could delay things even further. Pennsylvania has an automatic recount if the margin in a statewide race is 0.5% of the vote or less. The state also allows losing candidates to request a machine recount if they pay for it. Depending on the outcome, a refund may be possible.

Could Latino voters in Pennsylvania decide the election?

To secure a win in Pennsylvania, both Harris and Trump may need to win over Latino voters. According to the latest data from the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute, there are nearly 580,000 eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's share of eligible Latino voters has more than doubled since 2000, according to the data.

About half of the Latino population lives in the central part of the state, the “222 Corridor” — a stretch of small towns like Reading, Allentown, Lancaster and Bethlehem that presidential candidates and their running mate have visited frequently.

A recent survey by the Hispanic Federation and the Latino Victory Foundation found that 66% of Latino respondents said they would vote in Pennsylvania this year.

Who won Pennsylvania in the last presidential election?

Pennsylvania voted for the 2008 presidential winner when Barack Obama was elected president. Here's a look at who has claimed the state over the years:

• 2020: Democrat Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump
• 2016: Republican Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton
• 2012: Democrat Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney
• 2008: Democrat Barack Obama defeated John McCain
• 2004: democrat John Kerry defeated George W. Bush
• 2000: Democrat Al Gore defeated George W. Bush