States tried to make voting safe during the pandemic.

Under the rules, most voters were allowed to post their ballots up to and including Election Day, even if those ballots then delivered after the polling stations have closed.

But the Trump campaign argues that those votes should only be counted if they were actually delivered on Election Day in the key battleground off Pennsylvania.

The authorities say the record number of postal votes has put extra pressure on their officials.

My colleague Clive Myrie is in the state's largest city, Philadelphia.

We join him now for the latest.

Yes, you.

There is a nigh irony in the middle.

Awful this because in some of those battleground states where there is huge controversy over the counting of mail in ballots and absentee ballots as here in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, it's Republican lawmakers who refused to allow the local authorities, mainly Democrats, to start the process of counting those absentee ballots earlier in the election cycle.

Now what are we left with?

Chaos, anger and recrimination?

Aled.

This should be redundant now.

The election ephemera off the night before It is the morning after Election Day and as we very well knew might be the case.

We're still awaiting a result here in Pennsylvania and a handful of other crucial states in America.

Hell, no conversations reflect an election still in play over breakfast tables this morning and possibly dinner tables tomorrow night.

Yeah, long Marie Pizzo and Mary Lorenzo, a sprightly 80 something's who's seen a lot in their lives but nothing like this.

They got a lot of lot, lots of votes yet to count.

And yet I always say, May the better man win.

And let's hope that when there are in in office, they do the right thing, period.

But who will be in office?

It's still unclear.

Here in Philadelphia, they were counting absentee and mail in ballots through the night, with a million left to process by the morning on.

Now the Trump campaign is taking legal action in Pennsylvania.

You know, you do kind of expected, the man leading the count told me he's unconcerned.

I want it over with two more than anybody else, I assure you, that being said, we have to get it right.

We can't get it wrong there are no do overs do overs when it comes to counting elections.

But why Aled the problems co vid 19 Republicans were comfortable voting in person.

More Democrats voted by mail.

That's where we are.

It just so happened.

Listen to Brian Rosenwald, a former senior election official here in Philadelphia.

You have toe open in Pennsylvania and outer envelope, check a signature, then separate out an inter envelope.

Open that one and then get the ballot out.

It takes time when you're talking about hundreds of thousands of ballots in some of these counties, and the public officials in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, Wisconsin all said it was going to take time.

So you voted back in October, October 23rd and in the middle of a war, chaos seemingly for gotten voter check.

Make sure meet Debbie Smith, who checked online last night to see if her early votes had been counted and she couldn't find it.

It wasn't there.

It just still said Malian, Are you nervous?

It might still not be there, I know.

So now is there, it says.

Both recorded.

Okay, so there.

There's really no reason.

Late afternoon on other worried voters, air on the streets.

They all completed their ballots in good faith.

Will America respect their wishes?

Clive Myrie, BBC News in Philadelphia.