ELECTION DAY 2024: Precinct in another Pa. county granted extended voting time (live updates)

PITTSBURGH — After months of storylines centered around what could be considered the most important election ever, Election Day is finally here.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the polls heading into Election Day, with the final national NBC News poll indicating they are tied at 49% of the vote.

ELECTION 2024: See national coverage of Election Day

The latest Emerson College poll shows Trump leading Harris in the Keystone State by one point, but that’s within the margin of error, meaning it’s a toss-up. Pennsylvania is a major swing state that both candidates have worked to appeal to this election.

Election Day 2024: What Pennsylvania voters need to know

Channel 11 is your Election Headquarters. We’ll have the latest Election Day updates on WPXI.com and on-air.

Harris and Trump both made stops in Pittsburgh the day before Election Day, with the Republican speaking at PPG Paints Arena and the Democrat speaking at the Carrie Blast Furnaces near Swissvale.

Make sure to download our WPXI News App to stay up-to-date on the 2024 election and coverage & results as they come in on Election Day

See the latest updates below on all of the races on a local and national level.

Update 11/5 2:42 p.m.

Allegheny County announced another update regarding Election Day:

As of 2:20 PM, all inner envelopes of mail in ballots that are currently in the warehouse have been opened. Staff continues to remove ballots from the inner envelopes and prepare ballots for the scanners.

Update 11/5 2:22 p.m.

A precinct in another Pennsylvania county was granted extended voting times after issues at polling places.

Luzerne County officials petitioned the court for permission to extend the deadline after election officers allegedly failed to timely open the polling location in Laflin Borough.

The polling location did not open until 8:30 a.m., which caused some voters to have to leave.

The petition was accepted and Laflin Borough’s polling hours will now close at 9:30 p.m.

Update 11/5 2:17 p.m.

Trump cast his ballot at his precinct in Palm Beach with his wife and former first lady Melania Trump, CNN reported. His running mate, JD Vance, cast his vote in Ohio earlier Tuesday.

Harris said on Sunday she would vote by mail. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz voted last week while in Minnesota.

Update 11/5 1:12 p.m.

Voters across the Pittsburgh region are showing off that they cast their ballots with the famous ‘I Voted’ stickers.

PHOTOS: Pittsburgh-area voters show off ‘I Voted’ stickers

Have you voted? If so, we want to see your stickers! Show us here.

Update 11/5 12:38 p.m.

Officials told WJAC that widespread voting issues in Cambria County were caused by how the ballots were printed, not by the voting machines.

Cambria County Commissioner Scott Hunt confirmed to WJAC that the voting problem was caused by how the ballots were printed, and not a problem with the machines.

Mail-in ballots were not affected by this problem, WJAC said.

There is no word on if the issues in Luzerne, Bedford, Blair and Somerset counties also have to do with how the ballots were printed.

Update 11/5 12:21 p.m.

Allegheny County provided another update about mail-in ballots:

As of noon, all outer envelopes of mail in ballots in the warehouse have been opened. Inner envelopes are being opened and workers are extracting ballots from inner envelopes. The scanning of ballots for tabulation has begun. Results will not be posted until after 8 pm.

Media Note for planning purposes: Allegheny County anticipates most of the 200+ county workers currently working in the warehouse will be released by 3:00 pm as we pivot from the work of opening envelopes and extracting ballots to the work of scanning ballots (which requires a much smaller amount of staff and is not allowed to be filmed or photographed). A few workers will stay behind to open envelopes for the remaining ballots collected at the County Office Building today until 8 pm or delivered to the warehouse by USPS. In other words, please anticipate a very quiet and nearly empty warehouse for afternoon and evening live shots.

Update 11/5 12 p.m.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his office’s Election Task Force met with members of the press shortly after polls opened on Tuesday to discuss issues the team has seen at polling places as voting got underway in Philadelphia.

NBC affiliate WCAU reports Krasner said no one has been arrested, but several issues have been reported at polling places throughout the city, including illegal use of recording equipment “in certain contexts.”

Krasner said behavior at polling places seemed “a little bit more aggressive,” than in prior years, WCAU reports.

“Some behavior, thought it has not yet resulted in an arrest is a little bit more aggressive than what we have seen in the past,” Krasner said.

Update 11/5 11:38 a.m.

The court order extending Cambria County’s voting time explains that any ballots cast after 8 p.m. will be cast as a provisional ballot.

Update 11/5 11:15 a.m.

Voting in Cambria County has been extended from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., WJAC reports.

The court approved a petition at around 11 a.m. after hours of voter frustrations. In the petition, election officials explained that a software malfunction to the Electronic Voting System (EVS) prevented voters from scanning their completed ballots.

“The malfunction caused voters confusions, long lines of voters, and many individuals left the polling locations without casting a ballot,” according to the petition. Officials report the voting software malfunction is not fixed and “threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters in Cambria County.”

Update 11/5 11:04 a.m.

Allegheny County isn’t the only local area seeing long lines at polling places.

Sonrise Church in Unity Township, Westmoreland County has a long line of voters waiting to cast their ballots.

The precinct is between Latrobe and Greensburg.

Update 11/5 10:30 a.m.

Cambria County said a software malfunction caused voting issues during the morning of Election Day.

WJAC reports that there were voting issues in Blair, Somerset and Luzerne counties.

In Cambria County, officials report that a software malfunction is preventing voters from scanning their ballots, and the elections board has filed a court order extending the time to vote within Cambria County. IT specialists are reviewing the software issue, and election officials are reassuring voters that all completed ballots will be “accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections,” the Elections Board reported in a press release, WJAC reports.

WJAC also said that officials report they are monitoring the issue and guarantee that “all voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots.”

County solicitor Ron Repak released the following statement:

“The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots. This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts. The Board has filed a Court Order extending the time to vote within Cambria County. No one should be turned away from the polls if they wish to cast their vote. Cambria County Board of Elections took measures to have IT specialists called to review the software issue. There is a process in place for issues of this nature. All completed ballots will be accepted, secured, and counted by the Board of Elections. The County Board of Elections has express voting machine at precinct locations to continue to allow voting electronically, while still allowing hand ballots to be cast. The County Board of Elections will be continuing to monitor this issue and take any necessary action to ensure that all voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots. We thank the community for their patience and support while this issue is rectified. In summary, all votes will be counted and we continue to encourage everyone to vote.”

The Department of State said it is in contact with county officials in Cambria County. Voters are continuing to vote by paper ballot, in accordance with normal operations, while the county resolves the issue with in-precinct scanning.

”We are working with the County to resolve this technical matter and remain committed to ensuring a free, fair, safe, and secure election,” the Department of State said.

Update 11/5 10:16 a.m.

The line at a Pleasant Hills polling place could be seen wrapped around the block.

RAW: Voters line up outside of Pleasant Hills polling place

Update 11/5 9:45 a.m.

Several polling places around the Pittsburgh region are seeing a massive turnout Election Day morning. For a look around the area, click below.

PHOTOS: Election Day 2024 in Pittsburgh area

Update 11/5 9:25 a.m.

Allegheny County released another update, saying that the mail in dashboard is currently updated through Sunday’s returns.

Below is the full update:

The mail in dashboard is currently updated through Sunday’s returns. Mail-In Ballot Dashboard - Allegheny County, PA. It will update again later today to reflect ballots received yesterday. Mail in ballots can be returned to the County Office Building until 8:00 PM ET tonight.

County employees have inspected the outer envelopes of all of the mail in ballots in the warehouse, and as of 9:15 am approximately 100,000 outer envelopes have been opened. After outer envelopes are opened, employees remove the inner (or secrecy) envelopes from the outer envelopes. Then the inner envelopes will be opened and county employees will remove the ballots from the inner envelopes.

As a reminder, military and overseas mail-in ballots will be accepted for another week. For Allegheny County, 3,788 overseas were sent and 2,165 have been returned; 521 military were sent and 268 returned.

Update 11/5 8:58 a.m.

NBC affiliate WJAC reports widespread voting issues across Cambria County.

WJAC said voters reported voting machine are unable to scan ballots.

Some precincts are reportedly putting cast paper ballots in lock boxes to be scanned at a later time, WJAC reports. Some precincts are reportedly telling voters to return later in the day once the machines are fixed.

Some voting machine issues are being reported in Bedford County, officials there saying they are working on fixing the machines, but are keeping cast ballots in a lock box until they can be tabulated, according to WJAC.

Update 11/5 8:22 a.m.

Allegheny County officials said there was a delay at polling places Tuesday morning.

Below is the full update:

We had a delay at Whitehall-03. The judge of elections was late, they have arrived and the site is open and running now.

Pittsburgh 31-03 (Lincoln Place) the judge of elections did not come to the polling place this morning. The sheriff is retrieving the poll book from the judge of elections and will take it to the polling place, Lincoln Place Presbyterian Church. There are poll workers in place so upon arrival of the polling book, the site will open as normal. People are able to vote provisionally at this location now.

Update 11/5 8:20 a.m.

Voter could be seen lining up outside of a polling place in Plum.

Update 11/5 8 a.m.

Our Washington D.C. Bureau is in the country’s capital tracking national races, including the bid for president.

Kirstin Garris says we likely won’t know who will become president tonight. This doesn’t mean something is wrong, just that votes are still being counted.

Update 11/5 7:35 a.m.

Voters turned up early in polling places around Western Pennsylvania.

A photo shows a line outside of a polling place in Aleppo Township.

Voters reported getting in and out of the polling place at Parkwood Presbyterian Church in Hampton Township in less than 20 minutes.

A long line was found at a polling place in Pleasant Hills.

Update 11/5 7:05 a.m.

Allegheny County officials released their first update of Election Day:

As of 7 a.m., all 1327 precincts in Allegheny County are open for Election Day. Over 200 county workers have sworn in at the warehouse and beginning the process of pre-canvassing the more than 215,000 mail in ballots that have already been returned. Voters can continue to hand in mail in ballots at the County Office Building until 8:00 p.m., and USPS will continue to deliver ballots to the warehouse throughout the day.

Update 11/5 7 a.m.

Polls are officially open in Pennsylvania. Click here to find your polling place.

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