Election Day 2024 in Pennsylvania, live updates as voters go to the polls

One of Pennsylvania's two U.S. Senate seats is before voters Tuesday, with Sen. Bob Casey vying for a fourth term against challenger and businessman Dave McCormick. It is expected to be a close race and could ultimately play a role in the balance of power in the Senate.

This is McCormick's second run for the Senate after losing to Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary. Oz lost the general election to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's other senator.

McCormick, who was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, and raised in Bloomsburg, was CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, sat on former President Donald Trump's Defense Advisory Board and served in top positions under President George W. Bush.

Casey, who has been in the Senate since 2007, is a Scranton native, a former state auditor general and treasurer.

You can read more about the Pennsylvania Senate race here.

While New Jersey and Delaware both regulate what residents can and can't wear while voting, Pennsylvania does allow voters to wearing clothing, hats and buttons that show support for a specific candidate to the polls.

However, the Pennsylvania Department of State says "voters who are in the polling place to vote should not campaign for their chosen candidates, and Judges of Election should ask those voters to refrain from doing so while in the polling place."  

Just before 9:30 a.m., Allegheny County provided an update on mail-in ballots, saying that their dashboard, which can be found here, has been updated through Sunday's returns. 

It will be updated later today in order to reflect ballots that were received on Monday. 

Ballots can be returned to the Allegheny County office building until 8 p.m. 

As of 9:15, the county said approximately 100,000 outer envelopes have been opened. 

Military and overseas mail-in ballots will be accepted for another week. 

For Allegheny County, 3,788 ballots were sent to overseas residents and 2,165 have been returned. Meanwhile, 521 military ballots were sent and 268 have been returned. 

 It's Election Day and you still have your mail-in ballot, so what can you do with it? 

There are two options and poll workers have said there is a recent history of people arguing with them over these mail-in ballots. 

"Go to the county office building downtown today, [during] same hours that the polls are open, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and you can turn in your mail-in ballots there and it will be counted with the rest of the mail-in ballots," explained Abigail Gardner. 

Option number two is to take it to your polling place. 

"If you're going to surrender it to your poll worker, that's what we call it, and they will take it from you and it will get destroyed," Gardner said. "It doesn't count and you will be handed a new fresh ballot to vote in person just like everybody else." 

Basically, you'll have to get in line and vote in person like everybody else and that's where these arguments come from - because many voters want to drop it off and go. 

You can read my full story here. 

It's a dry, warm, and sunny Election Day and we could yet again, tie or break the record high of 80° set back in 1948. 

Rain showers return overnight into early Wednesday morning around 6 a.m. to the northwest, but it looks as if we will only be picking up about .10"-.25" of rain. 

They should wrap up after noon on Wednesday.

Get my full forecast here so you're prepared before you head to the polls!

According to Allegheny County, there were two delays at polling locations in the county. 

First, there was a delay at Whitehall-03 as the judge of elections was late. They arrived as of 8:22 a.m. and it is now up and running. 

Also, Pittsburgh 31-03 which is at Lincoln Place, the judge of elections did not arrive. The sheriff received the poll book from the election judge and took it to the polling place, Lincoln Place Presbyterian Church. 

Poll workers are in place and once the polling book arrives, the site will open as normal. 

People are able to vote provisionally at the location. 

People planning to vote in-person in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs will do so under increasingly sunny skies and above-average temperatures. The Delaware Valley is on track to see one of its warmest Election Days on record, with highs forecast to reach 76 degrees. If it gets that warm in Philadelphia, the city would tie the warmest Election Day on record from Nov. 9, 1936. 

On the flip side, Philadelphia's coldest Election Day was recorded 12 years ago on Nov. 6, 2012, when high temperatures only reached 45 degrees. 

Today's warm temperatures could also help increase voter turnout. A 2017 study found that for an increase of about 1.8 degrees, voter turnout increased by about 0.14%  

Officials in Burlington County, New Jersey confirmed Tuesday morning that there were issues getting polling machines up and running at several voting locations, including in Mount Laurel. 

Poll workers at the impacted locations are "being provided technical support" and the location on Masonville Centerton Road in Mount Laurel is expected to be back open shortly, a spokesperson for the county said.  

So far, 1.7 million Pennsylvania residents have voted by mail. That's down from 2020 when 2.6 million people voted by mail.  

Josh Maxwell, chair of the Chester County Board of Elections, said nontraditional voting methods have been the target of legal challenges.

"Some folks have chosen not to vote by mail who have voted by mail previously," Maxwell said. "There's a lot of litigation in Pennsylvania as far as what ballots can be counted. So we see less people voting by mail and expect more people to vote in person tomorrow."

Maxwell expects a strong turnout on Election Day.

In recent history, the popular vote in Pennsylvania—which decides who gets the electoral votes—has been very close. 

Pennsylvania now has 19 electoral votes compared to the 20 it had during the 2020 presidential election, thanks to redistricting after the 2020 census.  

Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populated state in the United States, with an estimated population of 12,961,683 in 2023, according to the most recent U.S. census data.

A state this large, with a population that is pretty evenly split politically, becomes a state to watch on election night.

Since 1900, Pennsylvania has voted Democratic 45.2% of the time and Republican 51.6% of the time.

Though there are states with more electoral votes at stake, none of them have traditionally been as close to call as Pennsylvania. 

On Monday, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt made two commitments to Pennsylvanians.

"First, that Pennsylvania's Nov. 5 election will be free, fair, safe and secure. And second, that all registered voters will have the opportunity to make their voice heard," Schmidt said.

Schmidt also discussed how long it will take to get the election results after the polls close. He said the Pennsylvania Department of State has never had final official results on Election Night.

"The department is confident that counties will work diligently to count every eligible ballot cast, and we can't predict what percentage of those votes will counted on Election Night," he said.

Schmidt said nearly 2 million mail-in ballots have been returned. Unlike other states, Pennsylvania law does not allow counties to begin opening and counting mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day.

It's Election Day in Pennsylvania and polling places are now officially open for people who will be casting their ballots in person.

If today is your first time voting or you're voting at a new polling place, you'll need to bring identification. A photo ID or approved non-photo ID, such as a firearms permit, a utility bill, a bank statement, or a check are approved options. 

Polls will close at 8 p.m tonight throughout the state. If you are in line to vote by 8 p.m., you will be permitted to vote and cast your ballot. 

To find your polling place, click here.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were both in Pennsylvania to make their final plea to voters ahead of Election Day.

Both candidates have made numerous trips to different parts of the state in recent weeks, hoping to win Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes.

Harris held a concert and rally at the Carrie Blast Furnaces in Swissvale.  She spoke for about 13 minutes, talking about the importance of voting, how "momentum is on our side" and how this election is about "a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom."   

After leaving the stage, she traveled across state and held her final campaign event with thousands in attendance at the bottom of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. 

Trump was in Reading earlier in the day and then held at rally at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh and took the stage shortly after 7:30 p.m. 

He said he was "thrilled to be back" and began attacking the Biden/Harris administration, asking people if they were better off now than four years ago. He promised to address inflation and border security. He also said that he would impose tariffs on Mexico and China related to drugs and the U.S-Mexico border.    

Trump wrapped up his final day of the campaign with a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.