PA Election Investigation Underway After County Runs Out Of Paper

LUZERNE COUNTY, PA — While state officials said the Pennsylvania midterm elections went off for the most part without a hitch, an investigation was opened in one county where local authorities say they ran out of paper on election day.

The Luzerne County Board of Elections unanimously voted Monday to request the county's district attorney's office to investigate why the shortage occurred. Vote counting remains underway in the county, as the incident caused unexpected hurdles and delays across the area. There is concern that some voters who were initially turned away earlier in the night because of a lack of paper never got the chance to return.

It was enough to get law enforcement to agree to investigate.

James May, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania legislature in the 118th district that includes Luzerne County, said that the election there was a "complete and total unmitigated disaster."

"Serious questions have been raised regarding the number of people who were disenfranchised and denied their fundamental right to vote when voting machines all across the county began running out of paper by 9 a.m.," May said Tuesday. "Voters are looking for assurances that in the midst of the total chaos of an unprecedented election disaster, their vote was counted accurately, and safeguards were maintained in order to protect the integrity of all votes."

The Pennsylvania Department of State acknowledged the day after the election that there had been issues there, but there was no indication that it was a concern that would linger beyond that day.

"Election workers are the frontline heroes of our democracy," Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said at the time. "We are grateful for their work ensuring all eligible Pennsylvanians have access to the ballot and that every vote is counted."

Roughly 44 polling places ran out of paper in Luzerne County. An emergency order was issued by Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Lesa S. Gelb to close polls two hours late, at 10 p.m. But many in Luzerne County — particularly Republicans like May who are currently projected to lose in unofficial tallies — are deeply unsatisfied.

The uncounted votes would not be sufficient to overturn any statewide races, which were won by Democrats by large margins. As results currently stand, Luzerne is one of the counties that made the most drastic shift to the left from the 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump won the county by a whopping 14.7 percent in 2020, an election in which he lost Pennsylvania as a whole to President Joe Biden. But governor-elect Josh Shapiro had an enormous turnaround there in 2022, edging out Republican candidate Doug Mastriano by 1.7 percent.

May added that he would fully accept the election results once all votes had been counted. He argued, however, that "any attempt to try to quickly declare victory before counting the votes and completing the investigation is not only premature, but it tells the voters that their concerns are invalid and not to be taken seriously."