Pennsylvania voters brave long lines, blustery weather to cast ballots Tuesday morning

Voters hit the polls in Montgomery County

FOX 29's Thomas Drayton is in Montgomery County as polls open amid incredible voter turn out.

PHILADELPHIA - Voters rushed to the polls Tuesday morning in Pennsylvania to cast their ballot in the 2020 Election, which one woman called "the most important vote of the century."

People began to gather at polling places in Philadelphia, Bucks County and Montgomery County shortly before the 7 a.m. opening time. Long lines soon followed at many locations as the wait time to cast a ballot approached 2 hours in some spots.

FOX 29's Thomas Drayton was in Montgomery County, where 220,000 voters have already cast their ballot ahead of Election Day. Still, more than half of the expected voter turnout in the county still needs to cast a ballot. Long lines began to form shortly after polls opened in the democratic stronghold that went to Hillary Clinton by a wide margin in 2016.

Long lines of voters seen as polls open in Bucks County

FOX 29's Jenn Fred is in Bucks County where an incredible voter turnout is underway.

Meanwhile, in Bucks County, a similar crowd of eager voters packed polling places just as they opened. Good Day Philadelphia's Jenn Frederick hit several areas in the county, including Bensalem High School where longtime voters claimed Tuesday mornings lines were the longest they've ever seen.

"We usually just walk right in, this is the longest we've ever seen it," one voter said.

In Trevose, voters who bundled up against the cold and blustery conditions were told the wait time to cast a vote was nearly 2 hours. That didn't deter one voter who told FOX 29 that Tuesday's election is "the most important vote of the century."

"I've been here maybe an hour and a half now," another voter said. "I'm already late for work so I'm just going to keep standing here."

Wait time for voters in Trevose exceeds an hour

FOX 29's Jenn Fred is in Trevose where lines of voters are expected to wait over an hour to cast their ballot.

In Philadelphia, more than 340,000 voters have already cast their ballot which is just a fraction of the county's 1.1 million voting population. One such voter is former Philadelphia Mayor Jim Nutter, who FOX 29's Lauren Johnson caught up with outside a polling place in Wynnewood.

"I feel good seeing all these people out here," Nutter said. "Philadelphians are ready to vote, that's what we're doing today, that's what it's all about."

With such an extraordinary in-person turnout expected Tuesday to pair with an overflow of mail-in ballots, Committee of Seventy member Pat Christmas told FOX 29 that it will likely take several days to collect results.

"We're going to have to wait a day or two or three to get most of the count done," Christmas said. "We are not going to have the results election night, this is going to be election week, we might have to wait until Friday possibly longer to have the ultimate results."

Philadelphia may not know outcome of election for several days

FOX 29's Lauren Johnson is with Committee of Seventy member Pat Christmas.

Millions of Americans have already cast their ballots via mail-in or absentee ballots, especially in New Jersey where every registered voter received their ballot in the mail. Despite already having millions of ballots in hand, elections officials in Pennsylvania cannot begin counting the state's mail in ballots until 7 a.m. Tallying of those ballots has already begun in New Jersey and Delaware.

Polls in Pennsylvania, as well as neighboring New Jersey and Delaware, will close at 8 p.m.

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