Politics

Cambria County granted 10 p.m. extension at polls after issues plague vote machines

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CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Poll issues reached across Cambria County Tuesday morning, prompting commissioners to file to keep polls open until 10 p.m. instead of the statewide 8 p.m.

Just before 11 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5, it was ordered by the court that Cambria County polls will remain open until 10 p.m., giving voters an extended time to return to cast their votes.

While various issues were reported around Central Pennsylvania, Cambria County took a county-wide hit when the machines wouldn’t scan the ballots due to a software issue, commissioners said.

This prompted workers to have people put their ballots in a lock box to be scanned later or to come back later that day.

Cambria County commissioners have since filed an emergency request to extend poll hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.


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Commissioners said the following in a release:

“The Board has filed a Court Order extending the time to vote within Cambria County. No one should be turned away from the polls if they wish to cast their vote. 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. 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.”

It’s unknown at this time if the request will be granted.

Stick with WTAJ on-air and online as we continue to update this story when we know more from the commissioner’s request.