Voters in Lehigh Valley wait up to 4 hours in Election Day lines to cast ballots

Pennsylvania voters are waiting in lines on Election Day that stretch three to four hours to cast their ballots in Lehigh Valley, one of the state's most competitive swing districts, which could ultimately decide who will be the next President of the United States: former President Donald Trump (R) or Vice President Kamala Harris (D).

Voters stood in line for hours to cast their ballots at the Banana Factory Arts Center polling station in South Bethlehem on Election Day, Tuesday, with projected waits varying between three and four hours. Despite the long wait times, voters said they were determined to stay in line to ensure that they participated in the nation's democratic process.

"Every time I turned a corner there was just another entire block of line," Nate Bowers told Lehigh Valley News, a 19-year-old computer science student at Lehigh University. "But I have to fulfill my civic duty. I have to vote no matter how long it takes."

Bowers, a registered Democrat, said that he was still undecided about voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting that former President Donald Trump is still in the running to receive his vote and he will do more research on the two candidates while waiting in line.

City Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek said that the polling center decided to add more voting machines to accommodate the afternoon rush, the outlet reported.

Lehigh Valley is located 60 miles north of Philadelphia, which includes Lehigh and Northampton counties. The district is a toss-up, and voters could swing in either direction. In Northhampton County, voters selected former President Obama twice, followed by former President Donald Trump, and then Biden in 2020 who won the county by a mere 0.7 percentage points that year, data shows.

During the current election cycle, both Trump and Harris have prioritized a victory in Lehigh Valley. According to analysts, the state of Pennsylvania could determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) also visited the Lehigh Valley polling location on Tuesday, greeting voters and showing support for Republican congressional candidates in the district.