Nearly 20% of Chester County voters were left off the original poll books provided to polling locations, according to county officials.
Voters registered as anything other than Republican or Democrat were missing from poll books, including those registered with the Green Party, with the Libertarian Party, with another party or without party affiliation. It amounted to about 75,000 registered voters out of roughly 385,000 in the county.
County election officials became aware of the problem just after polling places opened and were “actively deploying” supplemental poll books to 230 polling locations, according to county spokesperson Rebecca Brain. There will be a formal review.
A majority of voters in Chester County, about an hour’s drive west of Philadelphia, backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. Voters on Tuesday were weighing in on local offices, as well as on members of Pennsylvania’s highest court. Three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court were running in retention elections, in which voters give a “yes” or “no” on whether they serve another term.
Third-party voters were offered a provisional ballot if their name wasn’t in the poll book Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday evening, a judge ordered that all Chester County polling places remain open until 10 p.m. for all voters, with no exceptions. Provisional ballots will be used.