A look at turnout rates, absentee votes, and how each candidate performed in the swing state.
The winner of the 2024 Presidential election almost certainly needed to secure Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes, and this year, President-elect Donald Trump won 50.5% of the Keystone state’s votes.
President Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 with 50.01% of votes, with the results being finalized 4 days after the election. 2,616,075 mail-in ballots were cast that year, with the majority being from Democrats. This year, 1,914,843 total votes were mail-in ballots. Even though mail-in ballot totals were less this year, they were counted much faster than in 2020. Pennsylvania was called for President-elect Trump well before midnight on election day, showing a clear pathway for his victory in the election.
This year, 36.93% of votes cast for Vice President Harris were absentee ballots and 63.01% were cast on election day. Only 18.74% of absentee ballots went to President-elect Trump and 81.19% were cast on election day. 2020 saw considerably more people voting for then-candidate Biden via absentee ballot, with 57.70% of his total votes being cast by mail and 40.75% cast in person. 17.63% of absentee ballot votes went to then-President Trump and 80.86% were cast in person.
Philadelphia saw a decrease in voter participation this year compared to 2020, which had about 66% turnout. This year saw only about 63.35% turnout. Bucks County had about 80% turnout, with several hundred more votes being cast compared to the 2020 election. In 2020, President Biden won Bucks County with 51.66% of the vote. This year, President-elect Trump won it with 49.68% of the vote. In 2020, President Biden won Chester County with 57.76% of the votes with 83% turnout, and Vice President Harris won it by 56.50% with 82% turnout.
Erie County flipped from blue to red on Tuesday night, with 50.08% of votes going to President-elect Donald Trump and 48.64% to Vice President Harris. In 2020, President Biden won Erie County with 49.81% of votes compared to then-President Trump’s 48.78%. It’s notable that the 2024 election had a 73.8% turnout compared to 68% in 2020.
While Allegheny County stayed blue, it had a lower turnout of 74.6% this election cycle compared to 77% in 2020. Regardless of the lower turnout, the vote tallies were similar to 2020, which saw 59.43% go to President Biden and 39.03% to then-President Trump. Vice President Harris received 59.36% of votes this year and President-elect Trump received 39.51%.
According to unofficial results, Vice President Harris only led President-elect Trump by 1,776 votes, about 2.21%, in Centre County. This tally will almost certainly change as mail-in, overseas, military, and provisional ballots are continued to be counted. In 2020, President Biden’s margin in the county was almost double Vice President Harris’s at 4.73%. Voters in the rural areas outside State College cited immigration concerns as a leading issue.
