HARRISBURG — Closed-door talks on updating Pennsylvania’s fledgling mail-in voting law showed signs of life Wednesday amid warnings that doing nothing will risk a dragged-out vote count in the high-stakes presidential election in the battleground state.

House Republicans held an internal conference call to discuss the idea of giving counties four or five days to process mail-in ballots before Election Day and to set down security requirements for the drop boxes that some counties are using to help collect mail-in ballots.

Leaders of the House and Senate Republican majorities declined interviews. Through a spokesperson, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said the House Republican priority continues to be legislation that passed a month ago, nearly along party lines, and was met with a veto threat by Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.

Wednesday’s House Republican discussion did not involve elements of that month-old legislation opposed by many Democratic lawmakers and Wolf, such as lifting the county residency restriction on party or campaign representatives who observe inside polling places.