LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — As the Primary Election kicks off, some Luzerne County residents are finding that voting machines are down in certain places.
Luzerne County has had well-documented issues with elections in recent years many voters in Plains Township were frustrated and some were downright angry. Many could not vote because there were problems with machines, election officials say the problems were the result of human error on behalf of poll workers.
Eyewitness News started receiving calls from voters from across the county just after 7:00 a.m. when the polls opened. Voters described a wide variety of issues the majority says the voting machines were not up and running we spoke to voters at a Plains Township polling place.
“It’s actually more than frustrating now I’m mad we’re all mad. There’s a whole bunch of people waiting to vote. They’re Republicans and they can’t get our vote,” said Pam Decinti, Plains Township resident.
“Extremely frustrating, extremely frustrating last year when we voted for President we were out to the street waiting two hours, it didn’t work then,” said Plains Township resident, Ron Winck Sr.
Denise Williams is the Chairperson of the Board of Elections and says much of these issues were caused by human error.
“You know you get some user error you get some poll workers assistance calling in. Had a couple of Judge of Elections at the last minute not able to make it COVID related, we dispatched election workers out to cover for those positions, a couple of those polls got up and running late because of Judge of elections for the day,” said Williams.
Williams says the problems were not global systemic problems but isolated issues she urges anyone who had to leave a polling place to return and vote polls close at 8:00 Tuesday night.
“Our poll workers are doing a fantastic job, and sometimes they need assistance troubleshooting. Since 5:45 a.m. we have addressed a steady stream of minor, routine issues ranging from poll workers entering pass codes into the wrong field to not turning on the battery units. Our Election Day support team includes our full time staff, technical phone support, on-site representatives from our equipment vendors, and a team of rovers that can be deployed to any location that needs hands-on assistance.“
Director of Elections Michael Susek
This is a developing story. Eyewitness News will continue to update you as information becomes available.