Voters in a heavily Republican county in Pennsylvania will be given an extra two hours to cast their ballots on Election Day due to widespread problems with voting machines that led to confusion and long wait times. The problems with ballot scanning in Cambria County posed a risk of disenfranchising voters in this crucial swing state, a local election official said Tuesday.
Almost similar problems were also reported with tabulation machines in Bedford County. Officials assured voters that their ballots would still be counted despite the technical difficulties. In the last election, former President Donald Trump secured over 68 percent and 83 percent of the votes in these counties, respectively.
Major Issues With Voting Machines
"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."
Nathan Anderson, an IT expert from Johnstown, the largest city in Cambria County, faced problems at his polling site when he voted for Trump this morning.
He said that a poll worker placed his ballot in a lock box to be scanned later, but Anderson expressed concerns about this process. "I was able to turn in my ballot, whether or not it gets scanned, I'll never know to be honest," he said.
Anderson also said that many others were also opting to leave their ballots with poll workers for later scanning instead of returning once the machines were repaired.
In response to the situation, election officials submitted emergency paperwork to extend the voting hours by two hours, pushing the deadline to 10 p.m. to rectify the issues and guarantee that all ballots are counted, as mentioned in the petition filed in county court.
In the filing, Repak mentioned, "The malfunction caused voter confusion, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot."
He also said that the malfunction "threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters in Cambria County."
Voting Time Extended
A judge quickly granted the request but said that any ballots cast after the usual 8 p.m. deadline would be considered provisional. In Bedford County, officials reported that several precincts experienced problems with their tabulator machines before the polls opened, prompting the deployment of support teams to address the issues.
"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 holds the highest number of electoral college votes among swing states in the 2024 election. Since Trump, 78, narrowly lost the Keystone State by just over one percentage point in 2020, and polls show it as a statistical tossup, the voting machine failures have raised significant concerns for Republicans.
Cambria County, located around 65 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of 131,000, while neighboring Bedford County has around 47,000 residents.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have previously campaigned in Johnstown.
The problems with machines and software in Cambria and Bedford counties arise at a time when the nation is tense about the election. Four years ago, Trump promoted unfounded allegations of extensive voter fraud. As this election cycle approaches, he has cautioned about possible wrongdoing.
