11 Investigates tracks problems at the polls in Allegheny County

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — 11 Investigates tracked problems at the polls on Election Day. Problems ranged from polls opening late to scanners not working to some voters being turned away when their names didn’t appear on the voter rolls.

One of the most unusual situations happened at a precinct on the Northside in Perry Hilltop.

The judge of elections for the polling place at Reformed Presbyterian Home on Perrysville Avenue never showed up.

Democratic Committee Member Jon Hanrahan, who was greeting voters outside, told Channel 11 they learned the judge was in the hospital, but no one was informed.

“She was not able to transfer the book that has all the names, addresses and signatures to anybody else, the other poll workers. So they weren’t able to open with that book. They weren’t able to open with the voter roll,” Hanrahan said.

That led to several voters either being told to come back later or vote provisionally.

Randy Smith was one of those voters. He contacted 11 Investigates with a tip when he wasn’t able to vote.

“Very upsetting with everything going on with these races and being so tight,” Smith said. “We just really wanted to ensure that our voices are heard and our votes was counted today.”

Allegheny County ended up having to take extreme measures to get that voter log book back, so voters here could vote normally.

By mid-morning, the voter roll book was delivered to the precinct, and things got back on track. But a couple of dozen people had to vote provisionally.

“Their votes will count, but it is stressful for the voters and especially if there’s any lack of trust in the voting system,” Hanrahan said.

The county said those provisional ballots are sent to the county and set aside.

They’ll be reviewed by the return board starting this Friday to determine if there is a valid reason for them to be counted.

In this case, we expect they would, given that the judge didn’t show up.

11 News learned late Tuesday afternoon that four people were impersonating security officials at some polling locations.

They apparently call themselves “The Commission Security” and were going to polling places earlier in the day indicating they were authorized security personnel, which they were not.

The election court issued this cease and desist order to the group this afternoon..

11 Investigates tracks problems voters experienced at the polls in Allegheny County

Voter turnout was high at all the polling places 11 News visited, and many didn’t experience any problems.

But Northmont Presybeterian church in McCandless is one that did. We got reports from a few voters who experienced issues trying to scan their ballots.

The problem was the scanner that takes in the ballot after you fill it out wasn’t working, so voters were told to insert the ballot in the slot under the scanner. Meantime, the judge of elections called the county, and a tech team came to fix the scanner, which took a couple of hours. After it was fixed, the judge said workers scanned the ballots with witnesses watching.

The precinct’s judge of elections said about 40 voters were impacted, and by Tuesday afternoon, voters told 11 News things were working fine.

Angie Moreschi: “How was the process voting just now?”

Voter Mary Zeak: “It was perfectly fine. Whatever the problem was, it’s fine now.”

Voter Justin Shal: “It went right in and got the message that said, ‘Your ballot was counted.’ So hopefully it went in the right way.”

Angie Moreschi: “So you feel good about it?”

Shal: “I feel good about it, yeah.”

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Allegheny County voters line up at more than 1,300 polling places

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