Voting on US election day ‘by and large normal’ despite some glitches, experts say

Voting on election day this year largely went smoothly, despite a few glitches, typical of any election, that some Republicans used to sow distrust in the voting process.

As in every election, there were a handful of administrative and technological errors that caused delay for a small numbers of voters. Elections in the United States are administered at the local level, which means that county election offices, often operating on shoestring budgets, are in charge of overseeing the vote. It is not uncommon for something to temporarily go awry causing delays.

The most alarming development on Tuesday was more than 30 bomb threats that were called into election locations, according to CBS News, including two that temporarily shut down two polling locations in Georgia. Both were “non-credible” and from Russia, Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said. Voting hours were extended at five polling places in Fulton county as a result.

“Overall, the vast majority of voters today were able to cast a ballot without a problem. In some places there were technical glitches and long lines, but nothing out of the ordinary, and election officials were prepared and the backup measures they had in place allowed voting to continue with minimal disruptions. One thing was different this election. It was deeply concerning to see voters impacted by bomb threats at the polls,” said Lawrence Norden, the director of the election & governance program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a thinktank. “Fortunately, election officials and law enforcement knew how to handle the threats thanks to the training they’ve been doing over the last few years. These threats, many of which the FBI has said are associated with Russian email domains, must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable.”

The FBI said in a statement it was aware of bomb threats in several states, “many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains”.

Virginia Kase Solomón, the president and CEO of the watchdog group Common Cause, which monitored voting across the country on Tuesday, said: “With the exception of some of these extraordinary moments, such as the bomb threats … we have seen by and large normal things that we know happen.”

Voters line up at one of the busiest polling sites in Scottsdale, Arizona, early in the morning, on Tuesday. Photograph: Kasia Strek/The Guardian

“Unfortunately these are still things that happen in our election system, despite the fact that we have had so many gains when it comes to early voting and vote by mail, among other things,” she added.

Donald Trump and allies in recent years have sought to weaponize routine errors in election administration to undermine trust in US elections. They also have focused disruptive efforts on the counting of ballots, after voting is concluded.

The former president sought to spread misinformation about the voting process on Tuesday. “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”, he wrote in a post on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon. “Philadelphia and Detroit! Heavy Law Enforcement is there!!!”

Seth Bluestein, a Republican election official in Philadelphia, debunked the claim on Twitter/X: “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure. We have been in regular contact with the RNC. We have been responsive to every report of irregularities at the polls to ensure Philadelphians can vote safely and securely.”

In Allentown, Pennsylvania – a key battleground state – some voters waited more than six hours to cast a ballot after a polling location was understaffed and had just two machines. County officials added staff and machines to the location. A judge denied a request from the Democratic National Committee to extend voting hours.

At the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, bipartisian teams process ballots in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday. Photograph: Kasia Stręk/The Guardian

In Cambria county, Pennsylvania, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020, a judge extended voting by two hours Tuesday evening after a printing error made ballots unable to be scanned. Voters who were unable to cast their ballots were given the opportunity to place their completed ballots in lockboxes. The state election board in North Carolina also voted to extend voting hours in two precincts by 30 minutes after minor glitches. Multiple polling places in Navajo Nation in Arizona also faced long lines after there were issues with printers.

Arizona’s Apache county was ordered by a court to keep nine polling places open for two additional hours, until 9 pm local time, after the Navajo Nation filed a lawsuit seeking added time because of technical issues, Votebeat reported. Ballot printers experienced problems that created long lines, which some voters abandoned. The Navajo Nation is a crucial area for Democrats in the state.

In Milwaukee, election officials are recounting 30,000 mail-in ballots after an observer noticed a panel on tabulators was open that should have been locked, according to Votebeat. There wasn’t evidence of tampering, but officials decided to recount the ballots anyway.

Republican National Committee co-chairs Michael Whatley and Lara Trump used the mistake to stoke fears about elections.

“This is an unacceptable example of incompetent election administration in a key swing state: voters deserve better and we are unambiguously calling on Milwaukee’s officials to do their jobs and count ballots quickly and effectively,” they said in a statement. “Anything less undermines voter confidence.”