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Edwardsville’s two voting wards, both housed in the borough building, opened about a half hour late Tuesday morning due to technical issues, said Luzerne County Assistant Solicitor Michael Butera.
While most of the voters in line at 7 a.m. waited until the 7:30 a.m. opening, a few left, he said.
Butera urged any voters who left before 7:30 a.m. to contact the election office at 570-825-1715 if they are unable to return to cast their ballots before 8 p.m. If the office is contacted, the county may opt to keep that polling place open until 8:30 p.m., he said.
In another election matter, Butera said he investigated several complaints about intimidation at polling places in Hazleton.
After speaking to voters and candidate supporters on both sides, Butera said he was informed there was a “little bit of conflict” related to the issue of immigration.
With an overall population estimated around 24,723, Hazleton has a Latino population of 52.2 percent, the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics show.
Butera said he followed up on multiple complaints and spoke to election workers, who assured him that nothing improper occurred inside polling places.
“I think there were some misunderstandings and overzealousness for candidates people were supporting, but I didn’t see anything rising to the level of criminal activity or massive voter suppression,” Butera said. “I told both sides to play nice and fair, and both seemed to be respectful of the other.”
Calibration problems
Stephanie Grubert, editor and publisher of the Mountaintop Eagle, said she reported a problem with electronic voting machine calibration at her Rice Township polling place.
The calibration of machines, which involves aligning the touch-screen boxes to the proper selection, has been raised as a concern in several past elections.
Calibration testing is performed on all machines before they are sealed and delivered to polling places, but election officials have said calibration issues surface in most elections, possibly due to the jostling of machines during delivery and set-up.
County officials have urged voters to verify their selections are accurate before they hit the final confirm button. After the initial selection, the machines contain both review and confirm pages, with the option for voters to return to the ballot to change any selections.
Grubert said she carefully attempted to select Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lou Barletta three times, but the machine highlighted the name of his opponent, Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
When she summoned an election worker to report the matter, the worker encountered the same problem and ended up voiding the activity and switching her to another machine, she said. Grubert said the same incorrect selection appeared on the other machine, but she was able to deselect Casey and choose Barletta before casting the ballot.
Grubert said she was informed that there were no other complaints about calibration issues, but she was the 643rd voter and worries others were not paying attention before they confirmed their votes.
When she reported the matter to the county election office, Grubert said a worker informed her the machines are aging and may be impacted during transport. County election officials should address this problem, she said.
“I was horrified. It was shocking to me,” said Grubert, noting she has been voting for more than 50 years.
There were other unconfirmed reports of electronic voting machine glitches.
Pennsylvania Republican Party spokesman Jason Gottesman emailed to report “complaints of voting irregularities” at Our Lady of Grace at Precinct 9 in Hazleton, as well in Bear Creek Township.
Voters who cast straight Republican ballots said the machines cast the ballot as straight Democrat, Gottesman wrote.
Reached by phone, Gottesman said there were five complaints total, which also included polling places in Sugarloaf and Exeter.
Luzerne County Democratic Committee Vice-Chair Kathy Bozinski confirmed that officials with her party had heard of “a very few reports of machines switching votes,” and advised voters to double-check their ballots and alert a poll official immediately if any issues arise.
County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said that it would be an “extreme” incident if machines were actually changing votes, and that the protocol in such cases would be to take the affected machine out of service for inspection.
As of noon, Parsnik said the county had received no such reports, and that no machines had been taken out of service.
Butera also said a few technical issues with some of the new electronic poll books also were addressed.
This is the first election the county is using new electronic poll books purchased from Election Systems & Software for $324,800.
Replacing paper poll books with electronic versions should allow election workers to speed up voter processing because they can instantly search a countywide database if a voter’s name does not appear on their list, election officials have said. Previously, the workers had to contact the election office for this information, often causing delays, she said.
With the change, voters are signing in with a stylus on an electronic device,
Despite rain throughout the morning, voters have been turning out steadily — even heavily at some precincts.
At Trucksville Methodist Church in Shavertown there were long lines at about 11 a.m. when a Times Leader photographer visited, while there also were reports of heavy turnout and longer than usual lines in Sugarloaf and Butler townships.
Polling places busy
Angela Greco of Plains Township said she voted at 89:30 a.m. at the township municipal building on Main Street and there were about 10 people in line.
“The polling volunteer was discussing with a voter that earlier this morning the line was out the door,” Greco said. “The other times I’ve voted there — primaries and another general election — I was the only person, or maybe one of three.”
Greco said when she got to work, many of her colleagues were proudly wearing “I voted” stickers.
“Everyone is energized this year to have their voices and choices heard,” she said. “My own sister, who is just 21 and who first voted in 2016, was thrilled to vote today. She and her generation are appalled by the direction this country is going and they want their demographic and worldview to represented.”
Chip Mack, judge of elections in Wards 7 and 8 in Kingston, said the polling place at the Kingston Rec Center has been “swarming” all day. As of 6 p.m., both wards were reporting more than a 40 percent turnout. In Ward 7, Mack said 365 out of a possible 801 voters had cast ballots. In Ward 8, 464 of a possible 1,120 had voted.
“I can’t even get in the room to give you a number on how many have voted so far,” Mack said at 5 p.m. “That’s how heavy it is. Right now, there must be at least 20 people waiting to get in the room to vote.”
Mack said there has been a steady stream of voters all day, except for a brief loll in early afternoon.
“At 6:30 a.m., there were at least 50 people outside waiting to come in and vote,” Mack said.
The polls opened at 7 a.m.
