Voters in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District are heading to the polls in a neck-and-neck special election that’s caught national attention.
Meanwhile, confused voters in Pennsylvania’s 17 other congressional districts have logged angry calls and messages with their local elections offices after finding their own polls closed Tuesday.
Alleghney County spokeswoman Amie Downs said that voters in Sewickley and Monroeville had complained that their polling places were closed — polling places that are not part of the 18th District. (Monroeville is actually divided between the 12th, 14th, and 18th districts.)
Ms. Downs also told the Post-Gazette that election officials received "many calls yesterday [from] people who were confused because they thought they were voting but couldn't find their polling place on the list" of active voting stations.
Officials heard similar complaints from Beaver County, no part of which lies in the 18th District.
Dorene Mandity, the elections director in Beaver, confirmed that "we've been getting calls for the past week, with people wanting to vote absentee or by emergency ballot because they weren't going to be here today."
When they are told they are not eligible to vote, she said, "Some are understanding, but others argue with you and say, 'Why can't I vote?' You have to explain that we aren't in the district."
Ms. Mandity blamed that on the massive TV advertising blitz. "They are so overabundant, and you are viewing them whether you live in the district or not. When I started seeing the ads, I knew we'd be getting calls."
Ms. Mandity said she's also noticed a small number of lawn signs in her county. "I saw one in Ambridge, I think, and thought, 'Who put THAT there?'"
Confusion about just who gets a say in the race appears to have extended across the state. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, whose family has Pittsburgh roots but who hails from York, tweeted this morning that "People at my gym in York this am were asking me where they vote."
Northampton County Registrar Dee Rumsey said her office received more than a dozen calls before noon from outraged voters demanding their constitutional right to vote. Several media outlets, she said, failed to make clear it was not a statewide race, but limited to one district in southwestern Pennsylvania.
In a rare step, Ms. Rumsey’s office updated its website to stress that the election is limited to portions of Allegheny, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The message has slowed the number of calls coming into the office, she said.
“People are upset because they don’t think that they can vote,” she said.
Lehigh County Chief Clerk of Elections Tim Benyo said his office received numerous calls in the past week as voters checked if they were registered to vote. Between the unusual nature of the special election and the breathless coverage about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision on redistricting, he said he was surprised he wasn’t getting more calls.
“It’s — unfortunately — very common,” Mr. Benyo said of confusion around special elections. “Everything kind of gets lumped together.”
The 18th Congressional District race between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone has drawn millions of dollars from the national parties and political action committees. Rep. Tim Murphy resigned the post in October after the public learned the pro-life politician had pressured his mistress to get an abortion after learning she might be pregnant, and mistreated staff. The candidate who wins Tuesday will complete Mr. Murphy’s term, which was set to expire at the end of the year. If he wants to remain in office next year, he’ll have to win the primary and general elections, which are scheduled for May and November, respectively.
While President Donald Trump won the heavily Republican district by 20 points, a late poll showed Mr. Lamb, a Marine and former U.S. assistant district attorney, with a narrow lead over Mr. Saccone, a four-term state representative. And with 99 percent of the vote in Tuesday night, Mr. Lamb was ahead by 95 votes. Absentee ballots are likely to determine the outcome of the race.
Mr. Benyo and Ms. Rumsey said a message board shared by the state’s county election officials have shared similar stories of confused voters asking why their own polls were closed or where their polls are located.
Chris Potter contributed.
First Published: March 13, 2018, 6:43 p.m.
