Election Day in Western Pennsylvania: Voters turn out to the polls to make their voices heard

PITTSBURGH — It’s Election Day and Channel 11 is your Election Headquarters as the eyes of the nation are on Pennsylvania, a critical swing state in the presidential election.

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Our crews were out across the region as voters headed to the polls Tuesday. Polls closed at 8 p.m.

Here’s how communities across our area worked to keep the elections safe and fair.

Allegheny County sets up video feeds for transparency inside mail-in ballot counting room

Allegheny County set up video feeds for transparency inside mail-in ballot counting room

In Allegheny County, some election workers spent the day counting more than 215,000 mail-in ballots.

Our cameras were not allowed in those rooms, but the county set up 15 closed-circuit video feeds that showed exactly what was going on inside.

From those feeds, we could see workers opening those mail-in ballots, removing the secrecy envelope and preparing to run the ballots through the scanner to count them.

They weren’t allowed to begin opening them until the polls opened this morning and they planned to have the counting completed by 7 p.m.

Now that polls are closed, those totals will be posted and Republican Board of Elections member Sam DeMarco says the totals will create a so-called “blue mirage” because more Democrats vote by mail.

“So it will appear the Democrats are way out in front and then as the machines come back, the judges of elections report back,” DeMarco said.

In 2020, it was the exact opposite and the mail-in ballots didn’t get counted until after the in-person ballots and that created what was called the “red mirage” and Republican candidates jumped out to big leads.

DeMarco says he’s confident that the county results will be available Tuesday night. He doesn’t believe it will take an extra day or two to see the results.

Beaver County workers will stay through election night to get all votes counted

Beaver County workers will stay through election night to get all votes counted

In Beaver County, workers will stay through election night to get all votes counted.

The county is hoping for an 85% voter turnout, an increase from 2020.

Beaver County officials have seen an increase in mail-in ballots. About 90% had been returned as of Monday and workers will be counting in two shifts.

There weren’t any major security issues, aside from one power outage.

“This morning we had a power outage at North Sewickley one and two,” Beaver County Commissioner Daniel Camp said. “We worked with Penn Energy rep, we deployed generators to those locations but prior to the generators getting there the power turned back on. The positive of mail-in ballots at the time, when there is no power you can still vote and put it in a secure box both representatives from the Republican and Democratic party, had attorneys on site for when the county scanned them into the scanner to tabulate the votes.”

Wait times haven’t been an issue for most Butler County voters

Wait times haven’t been an issue for most Butler County voters

Butler County became a focal point of the campaign season after an attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show grounds in July.

Channel 11 learned on Election Day that there’s been a steady stream of voters, but wait times weren’t an issue.

Judy Klacke spent the day helping people navigate the voting process at the Cranberry Municipal Center, where multiple polling places are located.

“I’ve been observing that everything is going smoothly. Nobody has had any problems that they’ve approached me for. Nobody has been harassed. We make sure everyone can vote and won’t get stopped from voting,” Klacke said.

When the polls opened at 7 a.m., early-morning voters packed the center.

“I tried to come this morning and the line was all the way out the door so I said, ‘Let me just try again later,’” voter Kelly Lauer said. “It was really easy and quick. I just walked in and didn’t wait at all. Walked right up, colored in the bubbles and that was it.”

Election officials said there has been an uptick in mail-in ballots in Butler County and many residents took advantage of dropping their vote off in a drive-thru, beating the rush.

The Bureau of Elections in Butler expects the votes to be counted Tuesday night and both sides trust that every vote will be valid.

Commissioner says Washington County may see record voter turnout in 2024

Commissioner says Washington County may see record voter turnout in 2024

When polls opened at 7 a.m. in Washington County, voters were already in line.

County Commissioner Nick Sherman met up with Channel 11 at the Hilton Garden Inn, where voters waited about an hour to vote throughout the morning.

Sherman said everything ran smoothly with one machine that went down in Nottingham which was quickly replaced.

Sherman told us Washington may see a record turnout in 2024.

“We’re looking at north of an 80% turnout right now so it’s exciting,” he said.

Sherman said that while all eyes are on Pennsylvania, many are also trained on Washington County.

“Washington County historically has been a Democrat. When I ran for County Commissioner five years ago, there were 6,000 more Democrats than Republicans. As we stand here today, there’s 17,500 more Republicans than Democrats. So it switched,” he explained.

Board of Elections officials counted about 28,000 mail-in ballots.

Channel 11 has learned that if they still have thousands of ballots to count after 11 p.m., they will close up and resume on Wednesday morning.

Westmoreland County voters see long lines at the polls as officials expect up to 90% voter turnout

Westmoreland County voters saw long lines at the polls as officials expected up to 90% voter turnout

Voters in Unity Township, between Greensburg and Latrobe, saw long lines to get in to vote at SonRise Church much of the day.

“I came by at noon and it was filled up, blocked up, couldn’t get close to it, came back at 2 p.m. and got in and out in record time,” said Linda Wilkinson.

“I actually tried it twice, I started first at 8:30 this morning and it was a two-hour wait and I had clients so I had to come back,” added Rachel Cunningham. “This time was much easier, was only about 15 minutes. First time, like I said was two hours.”

Around 2 p.m. the lines started to ease up, but then right around 4 p.m., a line started back up.

Michael O’Barto, the Unity Township Board of Supervisors Chairman said the lines this morning were unlike anything he’s seen in recent memory.

“It’s been phenomenal,” O’Barto told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “I’ve seen lines that we haven’t seen before, and people have been patient, they’ve waited, and they’re committed to voting.”

Officials expect 85 to 90% voter turnout across the whole county.

Former President Donald Trump won Westmoreland County by nearly 30% in both 2016 and 2020.

“I think former President Trump will see the same margins in Westmoreland County if not better margins for him than he saw in both 2016 and 2020,” said County Commissioner Doug Chew, a Republican.

But Democrats are hoping Vice President Kamala Harris can chip away at that wide gap.

“Our fight is at the ballot box, our weapon is our vote, and our fuel is our voice,” said Michelle Milan McFall, Westmoreland County Democratic Party Chair.

Westmoreland County officials say they expect mail-in and absentee votes to be counted by 10 p.m., and say they will count all of the in-person votes before election night is over.

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