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Shortly after polls closed, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt confirmed Pennsylvania held another safe and secure election today and thanked local election officials for helping to run a smooth Election Day with few issues reported by the counties.
"We have the efforts of election officials in all 67 counties and the roughly 45,000 poll workers who staffed more than 9,000 polling places across Pennsylvania to thank for today's smooth and successful election," Secretary Schmidt said. "As a former county election official, I know just how hard they've been working. Their efforts ensured the rest of us could vote. On behalf of all Pennsylvanians, I thank them for their contribution to our democracy."
A handful of counties experienced minor issues during the day, which happen in every election. Those issues were quickly resolved.
In Chester County, a court order extended voting by an additional 30 minutes in three polling places which were delayed in opening. Voting was also extended for one hour at a polling location in Luzerne County after a report of a possible fire forced the facility to briefly evacuate.
One precinct in Cambria County did not receive a complete pollbook. A replacement pollbook was printed and sent to the polling place. The issue didn't prevent anyone from casting a ballot.
Some counties also had isolated issues with ballot scanners. In those instances, county poll workers placed the ballots in a secure location, ensuring the ballots could be safely scanned and properly counted as soon as the scanners were repaired or could be tabulated at the board of elections. Scanner jams and issues did not prevent any voters from being able to cast their ballot.
Overall, registered Pennsylvania voters received more than 1.3 million mail ballots for this election. As of 8 p.m., counties were reporting 86.6% of those ballots had been returned.
Final voter turnout numbers will be available in several days after all eligible votes have been counted. As unofficial results become available from counties, they will be posted on the Department's elections return site at electionreturns.pa.gov. The site provides statewide totals and county-by-county breakdowns of each race by votes cast in-person on Election Day, votes cast by mail ballot, and votes cast by provisional ballot.
Schmidt reminded Pennsylvanians that results on the Department's returns site are unofficial until certification happens in a few weeks. He also noted that increases in vote tallies in the coming days are to be expected as county officials canvass all ballots, including mail ballots, military and overseas ballots, and provisional ballots.
Schmidt also thanked state and local partners who helped ensure the security of today's election.