Pennsylvania county deadlocks on certifying election results
Associated PressHARRISBURG, Pa. — Officials in a northeastern Pennsylvania county where paper shortages caused Election Day ballot problems deadlocked Monday on whether to report official vote tallies to the state, effectively preventing their certification of the results. He said elections officials contacted 125 judges of elections from the county’s 187 precincts “and they reported nobody being turned away.” A judge extended voting in Luzerne by two hours, to 10 p.m., during the Nov. 8 election after the supplies ran short at some polling places. In a statement, the Department of State said it was contacting Luzerne officials “to inquire about the board’s decision and their intended next steps.” During public comment before the vote on Monday, people attending the elections board meeting in Wilkes-Barre called the election “rife with disenfranchisement,” requested the election be redone and called on county election officials to resign. Luzerne District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, a Republican who at the election board’s request is investigating why paper ran out at polling places, said in a text Monday that “the investigation is progressing as expected.” Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania is an area that has been trending Republicans in recent years. In Pittsburgh, Allegheny County’s Board of Elections voted Monday to certify the election results at 1,311 polling places but did not vote to certify results from 12 polling places where recount petitions have been filed.