Early Polling Issue Reported In Green Tree

KDKA-TV   22 April 2008

Any voter who experiences a problems at the polls is encouraged to call one of two toll-free hotlines: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) or 1-866-MY-VOTE1 (1-866-698-6831)
The polls had only been open for about an hour before we started to hear from some voters who say they had problems casting their ballots.

Poll workers think a short power outage may have caused an early issue for about two-dozen voters in Green Tree.

According to Debbie Moskala, some voters had to use paper ballots to cast their vote because of a glitch with one of the machines at the Marian Manor senior living facility.

"When we first started voting this morning, one machine wouldn't work," Moskala told KDKA, "…. so we did paper ballots. We had about 20 people go through with paper ballots and vote that way."

"We didn't have much of a problem," Moskala added, "just a delay."

Moskala says they've used the voting machines several times in the past and haven't had any previous problems.

She believes the electricity to the facility may have triggered the outage.

"We did have a problem with the electricity for a minute. It must have gone off and on – and maybe that triggered what the problem ended up being."

A technician was called in to try and get the machine up and running again.

"If people were inconvenienced, we're sorry," Moskala added, "but it wasn't intentional. It was just a delay and I hope that there's no problem for the rest of the day!"

The polls will be open until 8pm tonight.

Any voter who experiences a problems at the polls is encouraged to call one of two toll-free hotlines: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) or 1-866-MY-VOTE1 (1-866-698-6831)

Voters can also contact the Pennsylvania Department of State Board of Elections at 717-787-5280.