Voting on Election Day proceeded largely without major incident across the U.S. on Tuesday, with only a few scattered reports of delays, caused by weather, ballot printing errors, and technical issues.
By midday, most of the disruptions were “routine and expected,” according to Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She noted that the agency was not monitoring any large-scale incidents affecting election security.
In Pennsylvania, early reports of Republican poll watchers being denied access at some polling places were quickly resolved. A judge in the state ordered polling stations in Cambria County to remain open for an additional two hours after a ballot-scanning machine malfunction. Although some delays occurred, local officials assured that no voters were turned away, and all ballots would be counted. Cambria County had overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump in 2020, with 68% of the vote.
In Illinois, a technical issue in Champaign County and problems with electronic poll books in Louisville, Kentucky, briefly slowed voting. However, these issues were quickly resolved, allowing elections to proceed smoothly. In Maricopa County, Arizona, a slight delay occurred when a worker failed to bring a necessary key to one polling location.
Missouri faced flooding that made access to one St. Louis-area polling site difficult, while another site lost power, requiring poll workers to use a generator. Despite the rain and flooding in various states, voters showed resilience, lining up under umbrellas to cast their ballots.
“We’ll be like postal workers—rain, snow, or sleet,” said Mary Roszkowski, a voter in Racine, Wisconsin, as she wiped raindrops from her face.
In Maine, several high schools serving as polling places received false reports of active shooters, though voting continued without interruption after police confirmed the threats were hoaxes. Similarly, in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that bomb threats to polling locations had been reported but were quickly determined to be non-credible, with authorities investigating further.
In Central Iowa’s Story County, which includes the city of Ames, some voting machines malfunctioned, potentially delaying results. “We are aware of technical issues regarding tabulators in some precincts,” said Ashley Hunt Esquivel, a spokesperson for the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. She emphasized that the issues did not prevent anyone from voting but could slow the reporting of results.
Story County Auditor Lucy Martin explained that machines failed to read certain types of ballots at about 12 of the county’s 45 polling locations. Election workers were manually counting these ballots, and local officials from both parties were overseeing the process. The cause of the issue was still under investigation.