Washington County asks 23 voters to return after issue with electronic poll book

The polls are closed, and Pennsylvania officials are calling it a smooth Election Day with only a few issues.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said a few counties experienced minor issues, which were resolved. 

In Washington County, polling place hours were extended at one precinct for about two dozen voters who were asked to return to make sure their votes would be counted.

Washington County public relations director Nicole Ford told KDKA there was an issue Tuesday morning with an electronic poll book at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Chartiers Township. Twenty-three voters had to vote via emergency paper ballots.

Ford said it was later determined there was an issue with the Chartiers-3 judge of elections, who was removed by a judge in a hearing shortly after 5 p.m.

She said the county then asked the 23 voters who did not sign the poll book between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. to return to vote provisionally before 8 p.m. To give the voters more time to return, the polling place remained open for two extra hours for those voters.

Schmidt called the issue a mix-up at the start of the day.

"It appears to be that an election board, when setting up in the morning, wasn't following the procedures as they should, and then once the county and that precinct straightened everything out, they went to court and got a court order to extend the hours," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said roughly 4,500 poll workers staffed more than 9,000 polling places in Pennsylvania's 67 counties and that the hard work of county election workers is far from over. He asked everyone to be patient as they count every eligible vote, whether a race is close or not.