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Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt urges voters — and reporters — to be patient as ballots are counted

"It’s interesting hearing reporters talk about, ‘Listen everybody, this is going to take some time.’ And then the polls close, and then it’s, ‘Why don’t you have the results yet?’ " Schmidt said.

Philadelphia City Commissioners Al Schmidt, right, and Lisa Deeley speak to the media as election workers process ballots for the 2020 general election in the United States at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia City Commissioners Al Schmidt, right, and Lisa Deeley speak to the media as election workers process ballots for the 2020 general election in the United States at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)Read moreMatt Slocum / AP
    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt said voters should remain patient as the city continues to count the more than 350,000 mail ballots it received during the 2020 election.

“We have hundreds of thousands mail-in ballots yet to count,” Schmidt said during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon on Wednesday morning.

As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, about 460,000 votes have been counted in Philadelphia, with former Vice President Joe Biden with a 250,000 vote lead over President Donald Trump.

Schmidt estimated that Philadelphia will end up with between 350,000 and 400,000 mail in ballots, and noted that ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can still be counted, as long as they’re received by Friday. The city currently reports about 141,000 mail ballots have been counted, leaving more than 200,000 votes remaining to be counted.

» READ MORE: Election live coverage: Pennsylvania is still counting votes; court battles over mail ballots loom

"It’s interesting hearing reporters talk about, ‘Listen everybody, this is going to take some time.’ And then the polls close, and then it’s, ‘Why don’t you have the results yet?’ " Schmidt said. “Everyone needs to recalibrate their expectations.”

“Days and nights are beginning to blend together for all of us,” Schmidt added. “If everything keeps up, we’ll have the total results in the next couple of days.”