Berks County has about 170 employees working to open and count mailed ballots inside a ballroom at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Reading. It's a busy but organized scene inside.

#BerksVotes2020

County officials have barred media, observers and watchers from taking photos or video of the process. But they have hired Berks Community Television to record the process as an extra security measure.

"The process has been going very well this morning - actually better than expected," Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt said. "We are hopeful that we can get most of the ballots counted tonight."

There are stations in the ballroom: the pods where the outer envelopes of the ballots, which have been sorted by precinct, are being opened; the pods where the secrecy envelopes are being opened and the pods where people are removing the ballots and flattening them to be scanned.

They are then taken in trays to a nearby conference room where they are run through scanners to be counted. Finally the ballots, along with the envelopes, are packed into boxes. Those boxes will be taken to the elections office at the end of the day to be stored on a locked room.

There are several deputy sherriffs on site to observe the process and provide security.