LIVE UPDATES: The polls open at 7 a.m. for Pa. Election Day 2022. Here’s what you need to know.

Spotlight PA Staff

PublisherNovember 8, 2022
7 minutes read
A woman wearing an “I Voted” sticker during Pennsylvania’s 2020 election. -TIM TAI / Philadelphia Inquirer

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Welcome to Election Day 2022 in Pennsylvania.

Today, seven Spotlight PA reporters — in collaboration with our partners from Votebeat and students from the News Lab @ Penn State University — are monitoring voting across the state and will keep you updated with the latest news and developments as they happen.

We’re following the voting process, any reports of voter intimidation, the counting of mail and in-person ballots, legal challenges, and everything else you need to know as Pennsylvania works toward finalizing its election results. See something we need to know about? Use the form below:

GOP nominee for governor Doug Mastriano casts his ballot

9:18 a.m.

A Greene County voter on the Democratic Party: ‘They’re not one of us’

9:10 a.m.

Born and raised in Greene County — located in Pennsylvania’s southwest corner — Barb Stewart, 78, and her husband Ken, 82, have been Republicans all of their adult lives despite growing up Democrats.

Shortly after the polls opened at 7 a.m. in Waynesburg, Barb said the Democratic Party is no longer what she knew it to be growing up, and the Republican Party now stands more for the issues that matter to her most.

“I will not back a party that supports the killing of innocent children,” said Barb, referring to the Democratic Party’s stance on abortion access.

Abortion, however, is not the primary reason she’s a Republican. She believes the Democratic Party no longer cares about the people and doesn’t agree with its policies.

“They’re not one of us anymore,” she said. —Valeria Quinones, the News Lab @ Penn State for Spotlight PA

Candidates for U.S. Senate, governor cast their ballots

9 a.m.

Most of the major party candidates for U.S. Senate and governor cast their ballots during the morning rush.

Mail ballot counting going smoothly in Lancaster County after rough primary

8:45 a.m.

Lancaster County’s mail ballot counting operation was humming along smoothly as of 8:30 a.m.

Unlike in the primary — when poll workers had to remark thousands of ballots by hand due to a printing error — ballots opened today were being run through scanners without issue.

“Everything is scanning, everything is going well,” Elections Director Christa Miller told County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino, chair of the board of elections.

Roughly two dozen volunteers, overseen by county staff and partisan poll watchers, ensured the number of ballots received from a precinct matched what was recorded, opened the outer and inner envelopes with a high-speed slicer, and flattened out ballots for tabulation machines.

D’Agostino could not provide an estimate of the number of ballots counted so far this morning, but said the county planned to count all ballots received before Tuesday, roughly 41,000, today. Ballots received on Election Day will be counted Wednesday.

He said that the requirement to count continuously, a mandate for counties receiving election grants under Act 88, would not be a major issue for the county as it has had experience with counting continuously in the 2020 election. —Carter Walker, Votebeat / Spotlight PA

Which Pennsylvania counties are ‘curing’ ballots?

7:55 a.m.

Following a state Supreme Court ruling that found undated or incorrectly dated ballots shouldn’t be counted on Nov. 8, voters are scrambling to fix the errors, the AP reports.

Under state law, a person who casts a mail ballot must sign and date a declaration on the outer envelope. Undated ballots have a missing date, but are otherwise turned in on time to county election offices.

Incorrectly dated mail ballots were defined by the high court as those with dates that fall before Sept. 19, 2022, or after Nov. 8, 2022. For absentee ballots, the dates are Aug. 30, 2022, or after Nov. 8, 2022.

Some counties are proactively reaching out to voters about the issues and allowing them to fix their ballots, but others aren’t.

Spotlight PA could not identify a complete list of which of the 67 counties are “curing” ballots and which aren’t. Reporters found that Clearfield, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Philadelphia are among those curing ballots.

Chester County is allowing people to fix ballots without a signature, but not those that have an issue with the date. Cumberland County would not answer the question, citing ongoing litigation.

Centre and Dauphin Counties are not curing ballots.

The state’s top election official said people who think they may have made a mistake should reach out to their county immediately. Even if your county won’t let you fix your mail ballot, you have a right to vote by provisional ballot today. —Sarah Anne Hughes, Spotlight PA

>>READ MORE: Why are undated mail ballots such a big deal in Pennsylvania?

Philly commissioners vote to reinstate poll book reconciliation, delaying results

7:27 a.m.

“Philadelphia officials voted Tuesday morning to reinstate a process that can catch possible double votes from being counted — and will also slow down their ability to report midterm election results over the next week.

If Pennsylvania’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race is as close as expected, a wait for results out of the state’s largest city is sure to shine a national spotlight on Philadelphia, similar to after the 2020 presidential election.” — Jonathan Lai and Jeremy Roebuck, The Inquirer

>> READ MORE FROM THE INQUIRER

Shapiro continues to outraise Mastriano in final days of election

7:20 a.m.

In the waning days of the race for Pennsylvania’s top job, Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Doug Mastriano have crisscrossed the state to rally supporters and win over undecided voters.

To bolster those efforts, the gubernatorial nominees have collectively raised millions of dollars in eleventh-hour campaign donations to help get their message out.

The candidates reported the donations in campaign finance reports filed daily over the past two weeks, chronicling a trail of last-minute donations.

As he has throughout the campaign, Shapiro has far outraised Mastriano, raking in roughly $2.4 million between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7, to Mastriano’s $475,000, records show.

Shapiro’s biggest donors continue to be political action committees run by national Democratic groups, as well as public and private unions. More than $440,000, for instance, came from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has spent heavily in Pennsylvania to elect a Democrat in another marquee race: that for U.S. Senate.

Shapiro also received $200,000 from Jeffrey Lurie, who owns the Philadelphia Eagles, and $250,000 from billionaire Thomas Hagen, the board chair of Erie Indemnity Company.

In all, Shapiro has raised an eye-popping $65.2 million since the start of 2021 and spent a record $62.2 million. Compare that to Mastriano, who has raised $6.9 million in that same time frame and spent $5.8 million.

The two men have run vastly different campaigns. Shapiro has inundated the airwaves with campaign ads, while Mastriano has largely appealed to a loyal base, unable to front the cash to keep pace in ad spending.

Among Mastriano’s largest donors over the past two weeks: the political action committee affiliated with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, which contributed $50,000. The PAC run by Mastriano’s running mate, GOP state Rep. Carrie DelRosso, also donated $50,000. —Angela Couloumbis, Spotlight PA

>>READ MORE: Your complete guide to the candidates for governor

The polls are open

7 a.m.

Polls across Pennsylvania opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. As long as you are in line to vote by 8 p.m., you are entitled to cast a ballot.

Here’s more of what you need to know to vote today. — Sarah Anne Hughes, Spotlight PA

‘What do I need to bring with me to vote?’

3 a.m.

If this is your first time voting or your first time voting since changing addresses, you’ll need to bring proof of identification. This can include any government-issued ID such as a driver’s license or U.S. passport, a utility bill or bank statement that includes your name and address, or a military or student ID. See the full list of options. — Sarah Anne Hughes, Spotlight PA

How to report a problem while voting or get voting info

3 a.m.

If you need last-minute voting information, you can seek official answers from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling 1-877-VOTESPA. The nonpartisan Election Protection coalition has its own hotline, as well: 866-OUR-VOTE.

If you need to lodge a complaint about something you experience while voting, you can call the state’s hotline (1-877-VOTESPA) or reach the department using this form.

Still preparing to cast your ballot? Read Spotlight PA’s complete coverage at our Election Center 2022 website. — Sarah Anne Hughes, Spotlight PA

What you need to know before heading to the polls

3 a.m.

For those of you heading out to the polls, here’s what you need to know:

  • Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Double-check your polling place here.
  • In addition to nonpartisan poll workers, you may encounter partisan poll watchers who are sanctioned to observe polling places. Here’s what they can — and can’t — do.
  • Have a completed mail ballot? You can still drop it off today by 8 p.m. Some satellite offices and drop boxes will close before then, so make sure to look up your local details.
  • Have a mail ballot but want to vote in person? Bring all of the materials with you to your polling place.
  • Requested a mail ballot but it never came? You can still vote using a provisional ballot.
  • If you are facing a last-minute problem and can’t make it to the polls, you may qualify for an emergency absentee ballot. Read about those here.

Like in 2020, be prepared to exercise patience this week and beyond. Election officials can only begin processing mail and absentee ballots this morning, which means it may take days to report the full results.

Also, beware of mis- and disinformation about mail ballots, voting machines, and more. —Sarah Anne Hughes, Spotlight PA

WHILE YOU’RE HERE… If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.

PublisherNovember 8, 2022
7 minutes read
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