Ballot scanning errors caused voting delays in one Pennsylvania county, but no evidence of a 'steal'

Ballot scanning issues in one Pennsylvania county led to delays and voter confusion on Election Day, leading some to speculate about potential voter fraud.

County and state officials confirmed on Election Day morning that Cambria County, Pennsylvania, vote tabulating machines were unable to scan ballots because of technical issues. Later that afternoon, county officials said the issue was caused by a ballot printing error, which made the ballots unreadable by tabulators, according to local NBC affiliate WJAC-TV. 

The issue was corrected by Tuesday afternoon, WJAC reported, and the county’s polling places were supplied with new ballots that were able to be tabulated and processed by the machines. 

Before the issue was resolved, voters were still able to fill out paper ballots and securely cast them. 

The ballots that were cast before the issue was resolved will be hand counted, Cambria County Solicitor Ron Repak told WJAC. Voters who used an electronic ballot marking device, rather than filling out a paper ballot, also had no problem casting their ballot, local officials said.

The concern led some social media users to claim the delays were evidence of election fraud. One X post said, "The election steal is happening," pointing to the reported issues.

The Pennsylvania Department of State wrote Nov. 5 on X it was aware of the issues and was working to resolve them. The department said voters were still casting paper ballots.

"The Department of State is in contact with county officials in Cambria County," Pennsylvania Department of State spokesperson Amy Gulli told PolitiFact. "Voters are continuing to vote by paper ballot, in accordance with normal operations, while the county resolves the issue with in-precinct scanning."

With more than 3,000 counties across the United States, each with different systems for recording and counting votes, technical issues sometimes happen. But there’s no evidence the problems are evidence of an "election steal," as some social media users claimed. 

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Around 69,800 people voted in Cambria County in 2020, which former President Donald Trump won by 37 percentage points. The county, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, has a population of about 133,500.

A Pennsylvania judge approved a petition from the Cambria County Board of Elections to extend voting two hours, to 10 p.m., because of the issues. The extension applies only to Cambria County.

The malfunction "caused voter confusion, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot," according to the petition. 

Repak said in a Nov. 5 statement that votes cast during the period when the tabulating machines failed were securely accepted, stored and counted, WJAC reported. 

"There is a process in place for issues of this nature," Repak said. "All completed ballots will be accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections."

Cambria County uses voting systems from Election Systems & Software, known as ES&S, one of five approved vendors in the state. 

Before the problem was resolved, ES&S spokesperson Katina Granger told PolitiFact the company was working with the county to address it. Granger described the scanning problem as stemming from "an issue with the printed ballot." 

"This morning, voters after hand marking their ballot were instructed to place their ballots into the auxiliary bin of the ballot box," Granger said. "These ballots will all be counted after polls close."

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in an X post encouraged affected voters to stay in line and fill out and deliver their ballots. The Republican Party of Pennsylvania intervened to support the county’s petition to extend voting hours, according to a Republican National Committee press release.

The Cambria County tabulating machine issues caused delays and confusion at voting sites, but ballots were still being accepted and the time to vote was extended. Local officials prepare for technical issues, and officials said all ballots will be counted. There was no evidence the errors were an intentional attempt to suppress votes. 

We rate the claim that the issues were proof of a "steal" False.