PA’s Luzerne County Polls Open Until 10 PM Because Machines Ran Out of Paper
“It shouldn’t be this way, but that’s how it is. They ran out of paper. Why? I don’t know.”
We’ve seen Arizona be a mess all day today. Now polling places in Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County will stay open until 10 PM because machines ran out of paper.
Long lines of people waiting to cast their ballot Tuesday morning in Luzerne County, but it wasn’t because of voter turnout. There just wasn’t enough paper.
Similar issues have been reported to our newsroom in Dorrance Township and Dallas Township.
In Luzerne County, voting in person is a two-step process. Voters go to a machine that looks like an iPad, cast their vote, and their ballot is printed on a piece of paper. Then voters take that piece of paper and put it into a tabulation machine or scanner. Without the proper paper, provisional ballots were given to some voters until paper could be delivered. Many voters we spoke with were frustrated.
“It shouldn’t be this way, but that’s how it is. They ran out of paper. Why? I don’t know,” said Dominic Bechetti from Harveys Lake.
It was the same problem at several other polling places in Luzerne County, including Dorrance Township.
“While we were in there, someone had called for paper again, asking, and I said, ‘Please don’t give ours away. We have enough people here who would like to vote, and if you give our paper away, we won’t be able to vote. that’s not fair,'” said Linda Hoffman.
“That seems very odd that there’s a few places around here that no paper and when it’s Election Day,” said Brad Spaide. “You have people, they’re working second or third shift, and they can’t get back to vote. And their time is usually in the morning. Well, now they can’t cast their ballot.”
BREAKING: In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a judge just ordered the polls to stay open until 10 p.m. because voting machines literally ran out of paper. pic.twitter.com/SWihcheLOO
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 8, 2022
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Comments
Biggest election in years and they ran out of paper? Right!
Yes. This is all run by civil service. People hired by quota, not competence.
It’s what happens when you hire the same people to maintain the voting machines AND the rest rooms.
It’s a midterm. What makes you think it is the biggest in years? Unless by years you mean 2.
It is the biggest race since Neanderthals have been allowed to be on the ballot. Yes, I’m talking about Fetterman.
You say, “Fetterman would be an insult to Neanderthals, especially since theories about reduced intelligence are now debunked.”
Oh, so you agree, unless you have used up your limited sense of humor for one evening.
What a fucking shit show! 🙄🤔😡
Nothing to see here right libs. No election rigging.
Elections are run by humans and as humans make mistakes sometimes. In the biggest election, before 2024, in our history I’m not surprised the most basic of essential things was overlooked. People make mistakes when under pressure. As a Vet I can tell you that is why stuff is practiced ad nauseum until it is muscle memory. Movement, reloading etc. People panic, get overwhelmed and things don’t go like they should.
Don’t be in a hurry to attribute human nature to devious plans.
I think we are past “benefit of the doubt” territory with election mistakes.
Wyoming, Nebraska, or even DC running out of paper would be accidental.
But it’s always PA running out of paper, AZ’s aggregator machines going down, GA’s pipes breaking…
Knowing that the spotlight was going to be on the election day activities the people responsible for ensuring the process went smoothly in their jurisdiction…. failed. Not just here but in other locations as well. Really there are three broad reasons.
1. Incompetence. Failure to plan, rehearse, AAR the rehearsal, make adjustments, rehearse until the problems identified were overcome and addressed.
2. Lackadaisical and indifferent attitude to ensuring the elections process went smoothly.
3. Bad intent. Failure by design. Potential for criminal or civil violations.
All those choices are suboptimal. The people directly responsible must be held accountable along with whomever was supposed to supervise, monitor and ensure that meaningful oversight was provided.
All should be suspended from any further elections related duties or responsibilities until an investigation is complete clearing them of criminal intent or civil violations.
There’s a difference in not being too quick in attributing malice when stupidity, incompetence or laziness will explain the failure and what you seem to be pushing. Frankly you seem to be pushing us to accept that our public servants suck, that we should expect failure and learn to live with it.
Nah, This is just proof positive that the few things the government is supposed to do, they do badly. The rest they are completely incompetent at.
1) We live in a system where supposedly legitimate government MUST include “Consent of the governed”.
2) “Consent of the governed” is determined in large part by elections at all levels.
3) There is a built in assumption that said elections are honest.
4) Honesty in elections is like an on-off switch. It is either there or it is not there.
5) If the honesty of the elections cannot be trusted, or it is known not to exist; there is no consent of the governed.
Just something to file away to ponder if somehow after a long delay vote counts switch based on non-transparent factors.
Subotai Bahadur
I live in Luzerne county … This is the 3rd time in as many years there have been issues …largely affecting only Republicans
Why am I not surprised at the utter incompetence of the “civil servants?” Oh, yeah, because if they were any good at their jobs, they’d go into the private sector and make more.
In many cases, especially at the Federal level, that isn’t true anymore. The public sector has significantly higher total compensation.
We’re not talking federal here.
When I went to vote I saw a horrendous line, and, then the poll workers told me what had happened: the state had sent them ballots of a type that was incompatible with the type of machines used at this polling place.
We’ve been using the old “darken the circle” ballots here since forever. The state sent ballots that can only be used in a type of voting machine that has a touchscreen.
The line began to move after they’d obtained one of these, and then a little faster when they got a second one. But it still took a a very long time.
And (in this predominantly but not overwhelmingly) Republican area, a significant number of people waiting to vote gave up and just walked out.
I doubt we’ll ever learn just who screwed up.