The votes are in — officially.

The day we cast our votes is the start of a process that isn’t completed for weeks. Starting in October, Pennsylvanians started voting by mail. Ballots were cast in person Nov. 9. While we knew who the projected winners for some races were within hours, others took days to determine.

But now the numbers for Allegheny and Westmoreland counties are certified — with the exceptions of 12 precincts in Allegheny facing recounts and five in Westmoreland dealing with challenges.

This is part of the process. Recounts are nothing new. They happen regularly, especially in tight races. They can sometimes turn the win upside down. That is a good thing, not because if makes a change but because it proves the process works. The ultimate outcome of every election should be the accurate count of the vote resulting in the executed will of the people.

The certifications were due by Monday. According to WITF-FM in Harrisburg, Berks and Luzerne counties missed that deadline.

In some places, like Arizona, this is being lumped in with partisan challenges as a Republican protest. That seems a bit biased, too.

Luzerne County has reasonable grounds for delays as officials seek answers to an Election Day problem. Many precincts ran out of the paper to print ballots. That’s a rare complication worth taking a deep dive to investigate.

Berks is investigating claims of machines switching names from a Republican candidate to a Democrat. Westmoreland dealt with similar claims but found no proof and no problem with machinery.

The truth about elections is that the pendulum swings. One side will not always win. Unless a race is uncontested, someone is going to lose.

Questioning the process isn’t wrong. Making it a biased fight, on the other hand, is definitely a problem.

After a lengthy election season and with people announcing as candidates for 2023 races, the last thing we need is to fight over post-electoral bias. Challenges should be grounded in reality instead of politics, but at the same time, media outlets shouldn’t carelessly assume there is no basis.

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