Ballot Scanners Stop Working In Deep Red PA County

Election Day is not going smoothly in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The morning started with the Republican National Committee (RNC) naming Cambria as one of the counties that blocked Republican poll observers from entering polling places. It was resolved with RNC intervention.

And before the first brew of coffee was cold, there were reports of voting machines not scanning ballots.

The Cambria County Board of Commissioners, which is also the Board of Elections, released a statement confirming a software malfunction in the county’s electronic voting system was preventing voters from scanning their ballots.

The polls normally close at 8 p.m. EST on Election Day, but the board sought a court order to keep polls open longer, which was approved by the Cambria Court of Common Pleas. Polls will be open until 10 p.m. in Cambria County, but ballots cast after 8 p.m. will be cast as provisional ballots.

The Pennsylvania state and Cambria County Republican and Democrat parties joined the board of commissioners in the court request.

The county board of elections said people can still cast their vote.

“This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts,” a statement from the board said. “No one should be turned away from the polls if they wish to cast their vote.”

The county has asked computer specialists to review the software issue, the statement said.

“There is a process in place for issues of this nature,” the statement said. “All completed ballots will be accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections. The County Board of Elections has express voting machines at precinct locations to continue to allow voting electronically, while still allowing hand ballots to be cast.”

The RNC said in a statement that this is an “extraordinary” circumstance and extending the hours for Cambria voters is “a commonsense solution.” 

“This morning’s ballot processing issues in Cambria have resulted in delays — this is unacceptable, plain and simple,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “we need voters to STAY IN LINE!” 

Cambria was the first Pennsylvania county to alert the public that it was investigating the receipt of fraudulent voter registration requests. In Pennsylvania, three other counties received fraudulent voter registration or mail-in ballot requests.

In addition to the presidential race, there is another hotly contested election taking place in Cambria. Pennsylvania Democrats have been spending big money to hold onto Democrat State House Rep. Frank Burns’ seat in order to maintain the razor-thin Democrat majority in the Pennsylvania House.

Burns represents District 72, mostly Cambria County, which went for Trump in 2020. The district currently has 20,272 registered Republicans and 16,902 registered Democrats, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

 This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.