Precinct scanners in Cambria County malfunctioned on Election Day, unable to read the filled out ballots when voters fed them into the machines. The issue caused confusion and long lines, but voting is continuing.

Cambria County commissioners and voting rights groups are encouraging voters to continue going to the polls.

A court has extended voting hours in the county until 10 p.m. Any voter in line by then will be able to cast a ballot.

A slight change in the process

Cambria is a hand-marked paper ballot county. That means voters check in at the registration table, receive their ballot, mark it with a pen, and turn the ballot in.

But with scanners not able to read the ballots, the county is going to a back-up plan.

Cambria County officials said in a statement that voters can submit their ballots to the emergency back-up box with votes to be counted later, or they can vote on the voting machine in each precinct usually reserved for voters with disabilities. In Cambria County, that machine uses a touch-screen interface to mark a ballot that is then printed. That ballot is being correctly read by the precinct scanners, the county said.

Every county is prepared for issues like this. Election systems are resilient, said Kathy Boockvar, the former Pennsylvania Secretary of State from 2019 - 2021.

"Instead of casting their ballot by scanning it, they're casting their ballot into this secure lock box," Boockvar said.

Some counties use lock boxes, others use emergency bags.

All other processes for the voter should remain the same, Boockvar said.

The problem remains undiagnosed

In a press release, Cambria County commissioners said the issue was caused by a software error. That may not be the case.

Alex Ashcom, Cambria's chief clerk, said it's too early to know if it was a software or a ballot printing problem.

The county uses a voting system from Election Systems and Software, which said its systems are not at fault.

"The issues in Cambria County do not appear to be a machine issue or an issue related to ES&S," wrote company spokesperson Katina Granger to WITF. "While assisting the county, early indications are that this is a ballot printing issue."

Figuring out the problem and fixing are secondary, Boockvar said.

"We have the ballot that the voters in Cambria County hand marked," she said. "And so that's actually the most important part of the process."

Results may be delayed

Cambria County has 88,513 registered voters, per data from the Department of State.

Ashcom said he expects at minimum 40-50% of those voters to cast ballots on Election Day.

That means Cambria County will have upwards of 35,000 ballots to figure out how to count. The solution may delay results.

The county may be able to figure out a quick solution using its high-speed central scanner, or it might have to use much more intensive and time-consuming methods like ballot duplication or hand-counting.

The Department of State said it is working with Cambria County to resolve the issue.

"We are working with the County to resolve this technical matter and are committed to ensuring a free, fair, safe, and secure election," according to department spokesperson Matt Heckel.

Ashcom said the county has not had a problem counting mail-in votes so far, of which 1,180 have been returned, according to Department of State data.

It is too early to know what the issue is with the ballots and scanners and therefore too early to know what the solution could be.