海角大神

Nearly two hours into the meeting, Berks County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt loses his cool.聽

Mr. Barnhardt and his fellow commissioners had gathered to hear complaints about Pennsylvania鈥檚 Republican primary election, in which Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick are currently separated by . With a recount beginning June 1, both campaigns have been clawing at the margins 鈥� as evidenced by the two lawyers shuffling their stacks of paper-clipped files before Berks鈥� top election officials.

The first complaint has to do with extended poll hours. After some precincts had equipment trouble, a judge ruled that county polling stations would stay open one hour later. Not fair, says a lawyer with the McCormick campaign 鈥� polls were only supposed to be open for 13 hours. (Of note: In-person ballots have slightly favored Dr. Oz.)

The next complaint is over several hundred absentee ballots that were returned on time but without a date on the envelope. Counting them would clearly violate the rules, says a lawyer with the Oz campaign, since voters were instructed to date their envelopes. (Mail-in ballots have slightly favored Mr. McCormick.)聽

But when the discussion turns to the appropriate distance for observers to witness election employees at work, Mr. Barnhardt鈥檚 patience finally wears out.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 gotten to the point of lunacy with some of these things we鈥檙e discussing,鈥� he erupts. 鈥淭he ludicrousness ... of considering plugging in a camera similar to what ESPN does at football games is asinine.鈥�

鈥淭his is not the Democrats and Republicans; it鈥檚 the Republicans demanding changes,鈥� Mr. Barnhardt, the sole Democrat on the board, adds. 鈥淚f you think you鈥檙e going to stand there and look at someone鈥檚 envelope and look at someone鈥檚 ballot 鈥� forget about it.鈥欌�澛犅�

As Pennsylvania kicks off its statewide recount and works through court challenges surrounding the razor-thin GOP Senate race, election officials here, as elsewhere, are managing these efforts against an unprecedented backdrop 鈥� one in which even mundane clerical tasks are seen through a lens of deep distrust in the electoral process.

Former President Donald Trump鈥檚 relentless claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent 鈥� claims that were refuted by his own attorney general and top security officials, along with more than 60 court rulings upholding Joe Biden鈥檚 victory 鈥撀爃ave pushed Republican voters鈥� trust in U.S. elections . During the current cycle, questions of 鈥渆lection integrity鈥� have shaped Republican primaries, with scores of candidates promising to fix what they allege, contrary to evidence, is a broken system.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 fraud claims have already led many states to pass new laws tightening voting procedures. Even more impactful, however, may be the extent to which they have primed many GOP voters and officials to question election results going forward 鈥� particularly when a contest is close, and even when it is solely between Republicans, as is the case in Pennsylvania.

If the campaigns continue to foment distrust in the results, that could have serious consequences in the battleground state, seen as crucial to control of the Senate. The Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, won his primary handily, and the GOP will need its voters in the fall.

鈥淸Republican voters] have been lied to for so long and told repeatedly that what is a good election process is bad,鈥澛爏ays David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit that works with election officials from both parties聽to聽improve聽election聽administration. 鈥淵ou can understand how they would doubt elections.鈥�

Here in Berks County, officials say the atmosphere of distrust has made far it more difficult for them to do their jobs, even as the critical nature of those jobs has been underscored.聽

鈥淭hey get hung up on, they get sworn at 鈥� but they still come in every day,鈥� says Mr. Barnhardt in his office after the meeting, speaking of employees counting ballots several floors below. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying in some small way to restore faith in the voting process.鈥澛犅�

Story Hinckley/海角大神

Berks County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt, pictured here in his office on May 26 in Reading, Pennsylvania, says he has never dealt with the level of criticism currently leveled at the county's election workers in his 15 years on the job.

Too close to call

In the Election Services office for Berks, one of Pennsylvania鈥檚 most populous counties, paper ballots are sorted into towering columns of blue boxes. The 12 full-time employees, along with other workers filling in during the tabulation process, move seamlessly around the stacks.聽聽

Most decline to speak on the record, citing fear of harassment from their own community 鈥� an increasingly common problem.聽According to a , 1 in 3 elections officials now say they feel unsafe in their jobs, and 1 in 5 cite threats to their lives as a job-related concern.聽

Berks County hired a new elections director in February, its聽. Before 2020, Mr. Barnhardt had worked with one director during his entire 15-year tenure as commissioner. Pennsylvania officials say this is a statewide trend, estimating that more than 30 counties have lost their elections directors over the past two years.聽

Not only are these workers still facing harassment over the 2020 elections 鈥� a county employee says the office still fields calls from voters demanding they overturn the results 鈥� but they are also facing new scrutiny, and now the pressure of a statewide recount.

While聽Lieutenant Governor Fetterman won the Democratic Senate primary with on May 17, the Republican race for Pennsylvania鈥檚 open seat has been hotly contested. After Mr. Trump鈥檚 initial endorsee, Sean Parnell, amid domestic abuse allegations, the race closed in around former TV show host Dr. Oz and Mr. McCormick, an Army veteran and former head of the investment company Bridgewater Associates.

On Election Day, after聽a turnout of more than 1.3 million votes, the race was too close to call. By May 26, the margin between Dr. Oz and Mr. McCormick had shrunk to 922 votes, triggering a statewide recount.聽

In a post on his social media site Truth Social the day after the election, Mr. Trump urged Dr. Oz to 鈥�,鈥� adding that doing so would make it 鈥渕uch harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they 鈥榡ust happened to find.鈥欌�� While he held off doing so at first, 聽Friday saying he has earned 鈥渢he presumptive Republican nomination for the United States Senate.鈥澛�

The move reminded many here of Mr. Trump claiming victory on election night in 2020, well before all mail-in ballots had been tabulated.聽

鈥淩epublicans just cry a lot if they don鈥檛 win,鈥� says Patty Blatt, a Democratic voter with a Biden 2020 flag still hanging from her porch outside Reading. 鈥淭his all just sounds like the Republican calling card at this point.鈥澛�

Story Hinckley/海角大神

Patty Blatt, a Democrat who works at the local radio station, says she's unsurprised by the fallout from the close Republican Senate primary election. "If Republicans lose, then the election is rigged," she says from her front porch in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 26.

鈥淭he system is working exactly as it should鈥�

In a call with reporters Tuesday, a senior official with the McCormick campaign expressed a lack of confidence in the recount, complaining about slow reporting of results in the original tally 鈥� which isn鈥檛 finished in many parts of the state, even as the recount begins.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a recount of a count that we don鈥檛 know the results of yet,鈥� said the official.聽

The McCormick campaign has , arguing for almost four hours in court on Tuesday that 860 mail-in ballots missing a date on the exterior envelope should be counted because they were 鈥渋ndisputably submitted on time,鈥� as evidenced by the stamp upon receipt. After the hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court while it decides if it will hear an appeal.聽

Dr. Oz鈥檚 lawyers contend that counting these 860 undated ballots would be 鈥渃hanging the rules鈥� in the middle of an election 鈥� a decision that would further undermine voters鈥� confidence in the process. Berks County Commissioner 海角大神 Leinbach, one of Mr. Barnhardt鈥檚 two Republican colleagues, seems to echo this view during the meeting with lawyers for the two campaigns.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in a very difficult era for U.S. elections. More and more of what is ultimately deciding elections is not the vote or necessarily the law, but rather the results of litigation,鈥� says Mr. Leinbach. 鈥淭his is troubling, and potentially dangerous for the republic.鈥�

But litigation isn鈥檛 actually a problem, counters Mr. Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. While tedious and time-consuming, the automatic recount and ongoing court cases in Pennsylvania are all legitimate parts of the democratic process that serve to reinforce trust in results. The problem is the politicians who have encouraged voters to question these standard electoral procedures.

鈥淲e have had multiple years of delegitimization of a secure process by a losing candidate, and now voters are being misled into thinking something is awry,鈥� says Mr. Becker. 鈥淭his is an election with a very narrow margin, and the system is working exactly as it should.鈥澛�

Michael Taylor, acting solicitor for Chester County鈥檚 GOP, agrees that the current drama in Pennsylvania mostly reflects the closeness of the Senate race. But he also believes the 2020 election has colored how Republican voters see the entire process.聽

Mr. Taylor expresses a view repeated by many local officials: He believes the election results in his jurisdiction were fair and valid, and any claims to the contrary simply reflect voters鈥� lack of understanding of the process. But that doesn鈥檛 mean fraud didn鈥檛 take place in a different part of the state 鈥� or country.聽

鈥淭he questioning of mail-in ballots greatly stems from 2020. [Voters] saw what happened, and it gave them all these questions,鈥� says Mr. Taylor.

He adds that almost all of the Chester County GOP meetings now include voters who come and ask procedural questions for upward of an hour. 鈥淲e had a bunch of [poll] watchers come in for this election, and I tell each of them that come in that you have two jobs: If you see something, say something, but more importantly, then go back out to your friends and family and talk about your experience so they understand.鈥澛�

But then he adds another directive.聽

鈥淚 also said to the watchers who came in: Think of this as a practice round for November, when there are more ballots 鈥� and the pressure is greater.鈥�