Swing State Ballot Scanners Malfunction, Voting Extended

"The Cambria County Board of Elections learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots," Repak said in a statement. "This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts."

To address the situation, the Cambria County Board of Elections has called in IT specialists to review and resolve the issue. In the meantime, election officials have implemented a backup system to ensure voters can still cast their ballots. 

"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," Repak added.

In response to the technical difficulties, the Cambria County Board of Elections filed a court order to extend voting hours until 10:00 p.m. to give all voters enough time to cast their ballots.

"We thank the community for their patience and support while this issue is rectified," Repak said, emphasizing that all completed ballots—whether scanned electronically or hand-marked—will be accepted, secured, and counted.

The Pennsylvania Department of State recently issued a statement, saying, "The Department of State is in contact with county officials in Cambria County. Voters are continuing to vote by paper ballot, in accordance with normal operations, while the county resolves the issue with in-precinct scanning. We are working with the County to resolve this technical matter and remain committed to ensuring a free, fair, safe, and secure election."

The issues are not isolated to Cambria County alone, and reports of problems with voting machines are also coming in from neighboring counties in Pennsylvania.

Election officials claim they are continuing to monitor the situation and take all necessary actions to ensure voters are not disenfranchised.