Acting Secretary of State says paper loss led to postponed Luzerne County votes

LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — The Department of State says only one election issue has been reported in the state at this point in Luzerne County.

The county extended its in-person voting hours at the polls until 10 p.m., due to a paper shortage.

Polls recently closed in Luzerne County, two hours after they closed in the rest of the state.

Officials say that roughly 44 polling locations in Luzerne County ran out of paper to print ballots, which means some voters couldn’t cast their votes.

The Department of State says additional paper was delivered to those polling locations. The Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County also issued the two-hour extension to give voters the opportunity to come back, saying they were disenfranchised and denied the fundamental right to vote.

This delay, officials say, will add to the time it takes to count the votes.

The Secretary of State says that we shouldn’t expect unofficial results tonight.

“Election officials in all 67 counties are well aware that the eyes of the nation are on the keystone state tonight and they are counting as quickly as they can, but they are also prioritizing accuracy over speed as they should,” says Secretary of State, Leigh M. Chapman.

The Department of State says that it’s received more than 4,000 calls to the voter information hotline, which you could compare to the 5,000 calls it received in the 2020 election.