Voters check in at their polling place before casting their ballots on election day in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Voting system error and bomb threat among the problems during Pennsylvania’s 2023 municipal election
By Sydney Roach/WPSU
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Voters check in at their polling place before casting their ballots on election day in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said Election Day in the state mostly went smoothly, with an error in one county causing what his office called the main issue of the day.
Secretary of State Al Schmidt said in Northampton County a labeling mistake by the voting system vendor, ES&S, appeared to lead to votes being swapped in the Superior Court judge retention questions.
“While county officials have said the error did not affect the tabulation of votes, we will be following up with both Northampton County and ES&S in the coming days to determine why the error was not identified prior to election day,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said another problem happened in Delaware County, where a bomb threat investigation at Radnor High School forced that polling place to be closed. The polling place was moved to the Radnor Elementary School, and voting hours were extended by one hour until 9 p.m.
Schmidt said it was difficult to say how overall turnout went, especially because of people who voted before Election Day.
“Voting by mail has hopefully made voting more accessible, and it’s clearly been embraced in Pennsylvania,” Schmidt said.
Eligible registered voters requested more than 1 million mail-in and absentee ballots.
According to the Department of State, final voter turnout numbers will be available in several days, after all eligible votes have been counted.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
