PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Voters in a deep-red Pennsylvania county will get two extra hours to vote on Election Day after widespread problems with voting machines caused confusion and long lines.
The issues with scanning ballots in Cambria County threatened to disenfranchise voters in the critical swing state, a local election official said Tuesday.
Problems were also reported with tabulation machines in Bedford County.
Authorities reassured voters that their ballots will be counted despite the malfunctions.
Former President Donald Trump won the counties with 68% and 83% of the vote a four years ago with 68% and 83% of the vote, respectively.
“The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots,” Cambria County Solicitor Ron Repak said in a statement.
“This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts. The Board has filed a Court Order extending the time to vote within Cambria County.”
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Nathan Anderson, an IT specialist from Johnstown, Cambria’s largest city, said he ran into issues at his voting site when he cast his ballot 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 turn in my ballot, whether or not it gets scanned, I’ll never know to be honest,” he said.
Anderson added that others were also leaving their ballots with poll workers to be scanned later rather than coming back once the machines are fixed.
Election officials filed emergency paperwork to extend the voting time by two hours to 10 p.m. to rectify the issue and ensure all ballots are counted, according to the petition filed in county court.
In the filing, Repak said, “The malfunction caused voter confusion, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot.”
He also added that the malfunction “threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters in Cambria County.”
A judge quickly approved the order, but noted that any ballot cast after the standard 8 p.m. deadline would be provisional.
In Bedford County, local officials said the several precincts reported issues with their tabulator machines before the polls were opened, with support teams sent out to resolve the issue.
“The ability to vote has not been impacted and at this time all sites are being addressed,” said Jeffrey Gable, director of Elections in Bedford County.
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 one percentage point in 2020 and that polls have pegged the state as a statistical tossup, the outages have sparked serious concerns for Republicans.
Cambria County, which is about 65 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of 131,000; Bedford, next door, has about 47,000 residents.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris previously campaigned in Johnstown.
The machine and software issues in Cambria and Bedford counties come as the country is on edge over the election. Four years ago, Trump peddled unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud. Ahead of this election cycle, he has warned of potential maleficence.
Trump’s allies have been carefully on the lookout for any irregularities and geared up to potentially file a slew of lawsuits. The issues in Cambria and Bedford could give fodder for potential suits.
“This will be the most important day in American History. Voter enthusiasm is THROUGH THE ROOF because people want to Make America Great Again. That means lines are going to be long! I need you to deliver your vote no matter how long it takes. STAY IN LINE! The Radical Communist Democrats want you to pack up and go home,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.
Repak suggested that the county’s response to the software and machine snafus illustrates how the system is working to safeguard voters from glitches.
“Cambria County Board of Elections took measures to have IT specialists called to review the software issue. There is a process in place for issues of this nature. All completed ballots will be accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections,” he stressed.
“The County Board of Elections has express voting machine at precinct locations to continue to allow voting electronically, while still allowing hand ballots to be cast,” Repak went on. “The County Board of Elections will be continuing to monitor this issue and take any necessary action to ensure that all voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots.”
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Local voter Jessie Anderson said she was shocked by the voting issue but relieved that she chose to cast her ballot early on Oct. 29, anticipating possible Election Day issues.
“I’ve never voted early; voted by mail. But Trump kept putting it out there. Make it too big to rig,” she echoed the former president.
The Pennsylvania Department of State said it has been made aware of the issues in Cambria County and is working with local officials to correct them.
“Voters are continuing to vote by paper ballot, in accordance with normal operations, while the county resolves the issue with in-precinct scanning,” the department said in a statement.
“We are working with the County to resolve this technical matter and remain committed to ensuring a free, fair, safe, and secure election.”
Trump has a 0.6 percentage point edge over Harris in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of multi-candidate polling. The 45th president had flipped the state in 2016 but lost it in 2020.
