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RNC Chair Sends Urgent Message To Voters In Critical Swing County: ‘Stay In Line’

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3 weeks ago

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Michael Whatley, the new Republican National Committee chairman presiding over his first presidential election, is urging Pennsylvania voters in a contested county to ignore the chaos around broken voting machines.

“Stay in line” and don’t leave the polls without voting, Whatley said in a post on X after announcing that the RNC had just successfully won a battle with Pennsylvania election officials securing poll watchers for Tuesday. Addressed to voters in Cambria County, Whatley’s message states, “We understand that there are some line delays on the ground. We need you to stay in line. We need you to fill out your ballot in full and deliver it. Our Pennsylvania lawyers are all over this issue and will ensure fairness and accuracy in the process.” The “delays,” in Whatley’s diplomatic parlance, are actually broken voting machines that are threatening to suppress voter turnout across Cambria County, about 82 miles east of Pittsburgh and home to more than 130,000 voters.

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Interviews with western Pennsylvania voters indicate that the breakdown in polling places is widespread. Ashley Miller, an election worker in Cambria County, described what she saw go wrong with the electronic voting machines. “As of right now, the voting machines are just not scanning. We can accept the vote on the paper ballot,” she said around 9:05 a.m. EST. Technicians “are currently working on the issue,” she continued. “Once they get the issue fixed on the Scantron – the part that counts the vote – the poll workers are going to come back and scan in the ballot.” As a backup, “all the ballots are delivered to the courthouse,” she added.

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In a statement to the Tribune-Democrat, local election officials said, “The Cambria County Board of Elections took measures to have IT specialists called to review the software issue. There is a process in place for issues of this nature.” Board members added that they are not discouraging voters from arriving and voting while the issue is addressed. “All completed ballots will be accepted, secured and counted by the board of elections,” the message said. “The County Board of Elections has expressed voting machines at precinct locations to continue to allow voting electronically, while still allowing hand ballots to be cast. The county board of elections will be continuing to monitor this issue and take any necessary action to ensure that all voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots.”

The fear of election interference was pervasive across the U.S. on the eve of Election Day. National Guardsmen have been deployed in multiple states in response to concerns from officials of potential unrest or rioting. In sporadic instances, ballot machines have been tampered with, and on Monday a U.S. Postal Service worker was fired after throwing hundreds of pro-Republican mailers into a dumpster.

Former President Donald Trump, sensing how critical a win in Pennsylvania is to his electoral chances, spent Monday night in Pittsburgh rallying alongside Megyn Kelly. In his remarks, he promised a “golden age” for America if he wins and announced that Joe Rogan had endorsed him, Axios reported.

“The Wall Street Journal’s headline today was that Pittsburgh is the center of the political universe, and it really is, and I think having both Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris visit here on Monday again just emphasizes that fact,” Sam DeMarco, chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, told WTAE. “I believe that, with Republicans, there is a great deal of enthusiasm here. We are using mail-in and absentee ballots at a much greater clip than we have at any time since 2020.”

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