Technical difficulties are expected every election season, whether it's voter registration, voting machines or check-in systems. While most outlets are reporting no major disruptions, there has still been technical glitches and temporary outages, according to NBC News.
"At this point, this just looks like any other Election Day, and even just another Tuesday," a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters.
Below are the stories we found relating to technical issues nationwide on Election Day:
Human error caused glitches with voting machines in Georgia county
Some polling places in Spalding County, Georgia had to switch to paper ballots after technical issues with machines early morning on Election Day. Officials said the glitches were caused by workers incorrectly loading information onto poll pads before the locations opened, causing the machines to not work, according to WSB-TV.
Provisional ballots were rushed to each precinct to continue voting. As a result, many voters spent most of the morning standing in line. According to an election official, vendors repaired machines at eight of the 18 precincts in the county.
FOX 5 reported that the technical issues were eventually resolved, and operations were brought back to normal. Reports say some people left in frustration, while others came back later in the day.
Water pipe burst delays vote count in Georgia county
Fulton County officials said their absentee-by-mail processing operation was delayed Tuesday (November 3) after a water pipe burst in a room with ballots, according to to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Fulton is Georgia's most populated county.
County leaders confirmed no ballots were damaged, but the delay meant workers may miss their prediction of having three-quarters of the vote count by 11 p.m. The incident occurred at 6:07 a.m. and within two hours. Fulton elections manager Ralph Jones said the pipe burst will have "zero effect on the results." When asked by board members when the public will have the results, Jones said, “It’s going to be later than what we would like it to be."
"This is a labor intensive process that takes longer to tabulate than other forms of voting. Fulton County did not anticipate having all absentee ballots processed on Election Day,” the county spokeswoman wrote in a statement.
As of 5 p.m., 86,191 of the 130,517 absentee-by-mail ballots received have been scanned, AJC reported. Jones said this doesn’t include the ballots received in today’s mail.
Ohio County switches to backup paper system to check-in voters
Franklin County, Ohio's most populous county, switched to paper poll books after experiencing technical difficulties on Election Day, the New York Post reported. Officials told residents to expect long lines at the polls because their electronic check-in systems was not fully updated with new data.
“It’s important to note that this does NOT impact voting machines in any way and only modifies how voters are checked in,” a spokesperson for Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
Poll workers were trained to use paper poll books as a backup plan at every polling site. They also "ensure the integrity of the system and so no voter may vote twice. It will not impact the security or accuracy of today’s vote,” LaRose said.
Nevada County had delayed poll openings due to tech issues
Many poll stations in Clark County, Nevada had delayed openings due to technical issues early Tuesday morning, according to the Review Journal. Election officials provided few details on what caused the issues and only mentioned the delays.
“From what I understand, a lot of polling locations in Clark County were unable to open on time this morning due to technical issues with the poll books, nothing having to do with the machines,” Secretary of State spokeswoman Jennifer Russell said. She announced before noon that all locations were open.
Photo: Getty Images