Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Election day started with two issues in the Levittown area.
Aside from high turnout in the morning at polling places through the area, a snafu with the size of in-person voting ballots in Middletown Township and with a scanned ballot collection system in Bristol Township created problems.
Advertisements
At Middletown Township Upper Three at the Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company substation on Langhorne-Yardley Road, a number of ballots that were filled out were not scanning properly into the machines, according to a number of LevittownNow.com readers.
“Problem at Langhorne Middletown Fire Station 22. Long lines and they say machines aren’t working. Filling out ballots and putting them in container with poll staff,” one report said.
The problem caused an already long line of voters to stack up outside the fire station. At one point, the line snaked through the rear driveway and nearly to Langhorne-Yardley Road.
Advertisements
By late morning, election vendor Clear Ballot had delivered new ballots that were corrected.
The issue was different than one that caused some problems around the county during the primary election.
Advertisements
The problem on Tuesday morning was that some ballots had a side marker read by the ballot scanner cut to thin, according to county spokesperson James O’Malley.
O’Malley said all ballots previously filled out will be counted. They were locked in a secure pouch and will be tallied Tuesday night at the Board of Elections office in Doylestown Borough.
Advertisements
At the former Ben Franklin School on Mill Creek Road in Bristol Township, a faulty hook-up for a completed and scanned ballot collection pouch caused some people to walk off with their ballots.
A total of 89 voters were impacted, but all their votes will count, as the Clear Ballot scanners count the submitted ballot and also take an image of it in case the paper copy is lost or damaged.
Advertisements
County spokesperson Larry King said some ballots fell out of the back of the scanner and not into the secured pouch, causing some people to leave with their counted ballots.
Normally, completed ballots are scanned and the paper copy is kept in a secured pouch that is sent to the Board of Elections Office.
Advertisements
Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies
