Software ‘malfunction’ causes voting delay in Pennsylvania

A court in Pennsylvania has extended voting in Cambria County after technical issues prevented voters from scanning their ballots once the polls opened Tuesday morning.

The voting in the county was extended from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. by court order. Election officials petitioned for an extension after a software malfunction in the Electronic Voting System (EVS) prevented voters from scanning their ballots.

"The malfunction caused voter confusion, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot," an emergency petition said. The officials warned that it “threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters in Cambria County.”

The issue was not yet solved at the time of the court’s decision, and the votes are being cast by paper ballot, according to local media reports.

Similar problems have been confirmed by election officials in Bedford County, while 6News said it received “unconfirmed reports” of voting issues in Blair, Somerset, and Luzerne counties.

Election officials are reassuring voters that their votes will still be counted. "All completed ballots will be accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections,” Cambria County attorney Ron Repak said in a statement.

Repak said that IT specialists were called to review the software issue and that “there is a process in place for issues of this nature.” He added, “In summary, all votes will be counted and we continue to encourage everyone to vote.”

Both Cambria County and Bedford County, where issues were confirmed, supported Donald Trump by a large margin in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Pennsylvania is a key swing state that observers say could decide the election.