Voting malfunctions plague heavily GOP Pennsylvania counties, judge orders extended voting in one

Pennsylvania's Cambria and Bedford counties, where then-President Trump trounced Democratic challenger Joe Biden four years ago, are having problems with ballots, the New York Post reports.

“The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots,” Solicitor Ron Repak said. 

He assured voters before a judge extended voting hours to 10 p.m. Tuesday that "all votes will be counted" whether by hand or "express voting machine[s]" electronically. 

WJAC also reported that officials told the court the "malfunction caused voters confusions, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot," and "threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters in Cambria County." 

The Pennsylvania Department of State said it was "working with the County to resolve this technical matter and remain committed to ensuring a free, fair, safe, and secure election," also emphasizing voters can use paper ballots.

WJAC also reported that Bedford County officials were having problems with "voting tabulator machines in several precincts" but "have identified the issue and sent support teams to resolve the problem." They said the "ability to vote has not been impacted."

The county offered "further clarification" later in the day, specifying that officials at five precincts were "unable to open the voting tabulators with their security keys" and support teams resolved the issue at each. 

"Following existing protocol, voters were instructed to place their voted ballots in the Secure Storage Bin on the tabulator, which is a security measure put in place for a scenario such as this," it said. "Additionally, the issue experienced this morning was not software-related and was unrelated to any issues experienced by other Pennsylvania counties."