Election Day issues in 3 deep-red Pennsylvania counties threaten to delay results for critical swing state

On By Littum

EBENSBURG, Pa. – Election Day voting problems caused chaos and massive delays in one county and minor problems in two others in the critical swing state of Pennsyvlania.

All three counties went for former President Donald Trump in 2020.

Problems with ballots in Cambria County meant they could not be scanned by voting machines. As a result, polling stations have seen chaos and long lines that threaten to disenfranchise voters in the critical swing state, a local election official said Tuesday.

As a result, polling stations were ordered open for an additional two hours – until 10 p.m

Voters in Cambria County, PA encountered problems with the voting machines this morning. X / @KimJFlanders

In Luzerne County, home of Wilkes-Barre, a polling place could not open for 90 minutes Tuesday morning because of a problem with poll workers. A judge ordered the district to stay open until 1 p.m. 9.30 p.m

The questions mean election results in the counties could be delayed — at a time when margins in Pennsylvania are razor-sharp, with many experts predicting the Keystone State could decide the outcome of the presidential election.

However, election officials have assured voters that the problems would prevent any ballots from being counted.

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Cambria County

Around 7 a.m. local time, election officials received reports that the voting machines were not scanning the ballots properly, Commissioner Keith Rager told The Post.

“At first we thought it was a software problem and we tried to fix it. After further investigation we found that there was a problem with the ballots not being scanned into the system,” Alex Ashcom said , Cambria County’s office manager, to The Post.

Rager identified William Penn Printing as the company that sent the piled ballots and explained that the county was running to get a “good” batch of new ballots. The county received the new ballots around noon and began distributing them about an hour later.

In total, the county acquired about 35,000 new ballots.

“In response to this, we issued directives to all the other polling places to still take ballots, still have people vote, and to collect them and count them by hand, instead of using the machine as a backup,” Alex Ashcom, Cambria County’s office manager explained to The Post.

Trump won the county with 68% of the vote against President Biden in 2020.

Nathan Anderson, an IT specialist from Johnstown, Cambria’s largest city, said he encountered problems at his polling place when he cast his vote for Trump this morning.

He said a poll worker put his ballot in a lock box until it could be scanned, but Anderson admitted he had reservations about the issue.

“I was able to cast my ballot, whether it gets scanned or not, I’ll never know to be honest,” he said.

Anderson added that others also left their ballots with poll workers to be scanned later instead of coming back when the machines are fixed.

The judge, who ordered the voting period to be extended beyond power, noted that any ballot cast after the standard deadline of 10 p.m. 20.00, would be provisional.

Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris previously campaigned in Johnstown. Cambria County, located about 65 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of 131,000.

Trump was joined by Megyn Kelly as he delivered his penultimate speech before the election on Monday night. Reuters

Luzerne County

In Luzerne County, one of two counties in eastern Pennsylvania where Republicans overtook Democrats in active voter registration earlier this year, poll workers failed to set up shop in time.

Polls were supposed to open at 7 a.m., but in Luzerne County, workers in a precinct in Laflin Borough couldn’t access a scanner because of a problem with the lock. Around 8.40 several machines were up and running.

But the delay prompted a request from both the Luzerne County Democratic Party and the Pennsylvania Republican Party for a time extension to make up for the debacle.

The county is no stranger to election controversy. Two years ago, the county ran short on paper ballots. It had previously been considered a blue county, but Trump managed to win it in both 2016 and 2020.

Luzerne County has a population of about 327,000.

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Bedford County

Further south in Bedford County, poll workers had trouble opening their tabulators, with some unable to open with their security keys, according to officials there.

“Support team members visited the five precincts and resolved each issue, allowing the activation process to run as expected,” said Jeffrey Gable, Bedford County director of elections.

“The voters’ ability to cast a vote was not affected. In accordance with existing protocol, voters were asked to place their reconciled ballots in the Secure Storage Bin on the tabulator, which is a security measure put in place for a scenario like this.”

Gable also emphasized that the problem was “not software-related” and “not related to problems experienced by other Pennsylvania counties.”

Bedford, located next to Cambria County, has about 47,000 residents and went overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020.

With the polls nearly deadlocked, Harris and Trump are both hoping for a win in Pennsylvania. Getty Images

All eyes on Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has the most electoral college votes of any swing state in the 2024 election. Given that Trump, 78, lost the Keystone State by just over a percentage point in 2020 and that polls have pegged the state as a statistical tossup, the disconnects have sparked serious concerns for Republicans .

The election administration issues in Cambria, Luzerne and Bedford counties come as the country heads into the election. Four years ago, Trump made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. Ahead of this election cycle, he has warned of potential evil.

Trump’s allies have been carefully watching for any irregularities and prepared to potentially file a series of lawsuits. The issues in Cambria and Bedford could provide fodder for potential suits.

“This is going to be the most important day in American history. Voter enthusiasm is THROUGHOUT because people want to make America great again. That means the lines will be long! I need you to cast your vote, no matter how long it takes .GET IN LINE! The radical communist democrats want you to pack up and go home,” says Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

Local voter Jessie Anderson said she was shocked by the ballot question but was relieved she chose to cast her vote early on Oct. 29, to anticipate possible Election Day problems.

“I have never voted early; postal vote. But Trump kept putting it out there. Make it too big to rig,” she repeated to the former president.

Trump most recently has a lead of 0.6 percentage points over Harris RealClearPolitics aggregate of voting with multiple candidates. The 45th president had flipped the state in 2016 but lost it in 2020.