Late officials, malfunctioning machines, GOP poll watchers rejected from polling locations as Pennsylvanians cast their votes

With Election Day underway, some voters in Philadelphia and other jurisdictions in Pennsylvania, a closely watched swing state that may determine the outcome of the election, have reported issues at polling places, including Republican poll watchers reportedly being kicked out and necessary paperwork not being sent to polling locations. 

Ahead of the polls opening in Philadelphia, attorney Linda Kerns wrote on X, "Polls have not opened yet in Philly and FOUR of our Court appointed election workers were kicked out and told they can't work. Democrats don't want our people on the polling places." She added that the issue had been reported to District Attorney Larry Krasner. "Let’s see if he takes action."

Around an hour after Kerns made her post, GOP Chairman Michael Whatley said that attorneys had been deployed to the area and the issue had been resolved. 

"Early this morning we learned that Republican poll watchers in Philadelphia, York, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Lehigh, Cambria, Wyoming, and Lackawanna Counties were being turned away," Whatley wrote. "We deployed our roving attorneys, engaged with local officials, and can now report that all Republican poll watchers have been let into the building. We will keep fighting, keep winning, and keep sharing updates."

WTAJ reported additional issues at polling places in Blair, Cambria, and Huntingdon counties. An issue at Martinsburg in Blair County where people who voted at the location in the past were not on the books, was resolved after switching machines. Another viewer in Cambria County reported that there was a county-wide issue and ballots couldn’t be scanned.

Another lawyer, who goes by Brandon on X, said that when he went to his local polling place and was standing in line, a poll worker came out and "announced that Allegheny County didn’t send the necessary paperwork for one of the 2 districts at this polling location and one of the necessary officials hasn’t shown up yet. They’re separating the 2 districts and allowing 1 district to vote."

He further said that the workers were "encouraging people to use provisional ballots if they don’t want to wait," and voters in line were told "the County didn’t send the poll book and they can’t start voting until they have it." Additionally, the elections judge for the district didn’t show up on time, with poll workers calling the county 6 times between 6:15 am and 7:15 am. The judge finally showed up 40 minutes later. 

Founder of Early Vote Action, Scott Presler, noted that any Pennsylvania election problems can be reported to the Republican National Committee’s Protect the Vote initiative. 

Another X user reported that a polling place in Luzerne County was not open as of 7:20 am. According to WNEP, the St Maria Goretti Church Hall polling location did not see its first vote cast until 8:30, an hour and a half after its scheduled opening time. The outlet said that a Judge of Elections was late, causing the holdup.

In Cambria County, county solicitor Ron Repak said in a statement that a "software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots."

"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. 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."