Delco, Main Line Voters Cast Ballots In Droves Tuesday

ARDMORE, PA — Despite record numbers of mail-in ballots requested in the region, voters came out in droves to polling places in Delaware County and on the Main Line Tuesday.

The polls opened at 7 a.m., and with the opening came lines of voters posted up outside their polling places.

In Ardmore, the 04-2 Lower Merion precinct saw more voters by 4 p.m. Tuesday than they have in past general elections, according to election judge Carla Wright said.

"The busiest I've even seen" she said.

A judge for about 10 years, Wright said about 256 people cast ballots at about 4 p.m.

"Well above average," she said of the voter total with four hours left for voting.

Nearby in Havertown, 04-3 precinct election judge Steve Spahr said the turnout was the best he's seen.

Spahr has been a judge for about 18 years, he said.

By about 3:30 p.m., Spahr said the number of voters who cast ballots was on par for previous years, but he said the morning voting crowd was unlike anything he's encountered as a judge.

"I've never seen this many people, this early in the morning," he said of the line that formed before 7 a.m. "When I walked in here the line was down around the corner. Usually there are a dozen people at most."

Typically, general elections draw 600 to 800 voters to his precinct, but in the late afternoon Tuesday Spahr said totals were inching toward those historic figures, sitting around 500 voters.

Spahr didn't report any issues at his precinct, such as machine trouble or voter intimidation, but did say many voters returned their mail-in ballots for provisional ballots.

"They don't trust the mail-in ballots," he said.

Interim Director of the Delaware County Elections Bureau Marianne Jackson said the number of voters countywide who turned in mail-in ballots for provisional ballots was much higher than expected.

"We've been busy playing a little bit of catch up getting more of these surrender affidavits out to the precincts," she said at a 3 p.m. news conference. "But we're managing through that right now nicely."

Wright said 20 to 30 people swapped out their mail-in ballots as of about 4 p.m.

In the 04-1 precinct, which was also located in St. Mary's Church alongside the 04-2 precinct, officials said there were even more incidences of mail-in ballots being dropped off so voters could vote then and there.

"I don't know why that happens," Wright said of voters forgoing mail-in ballots in lieu of provisional voting on Election Day. "Maybe they just change their mind or they don't trust the system."

"They don't trust the mail-in ballots," Spahr said.

She also said some people didn't get ballots in the mail or were unable to get transportation to a drop box.

Wright said provisional ballots can be frustrating, but said "at least you can vote."

"We haven't had to turn anyone away," she said.

Additionally, the region has seen no major incidents of what could be considered voter intimidation, Jackson said.

Spahr and Wright echoed that sentiment, saying vote casting in their precincts was going smoothly.

Another issue that caught Jackson and other Delaware County officials by surprise was that some ballot scanners were not reading codes on ballots.

"We think that's probably because the ballots were printed a little bit too lightly by our vendor," she said.

However, voters whose ballots were not scanned will have them counted, she assured.

"Those are going to be brought back here to our election headquarters where they will absolutely be scanned and your vote will absolutely be counted."

She also said new, darker-inked ballots were being delivered to precincts to curb the issue.

Early Tuesday, some precincts in Delaware County saw long lines and delayed openings due to workers trying to ensure the machinery and equipment were all working properly.

"Those are some of the things that when you've got 429 different precincts you're going to run into," she said.

Jackson hopes to have some results posted by 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m., but could not say when a full tally is expected.

"It's a hard question, and I'm probably not in a position to answer that," she said of when voters can get final results. "We're just going to keep plowing through the mail-in ballots as quickly as we can."

She said about more than 100 people are working at the election headquarters in Chester to address the massive number of mail-in ballots.