Secretary of State: Department's Election Returns Website Offers First Look at Pennsylvania's Vote Count

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With Tuesday's Primary Election just ahead, Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortés today reminded Pennsylvanians that the Department of State's election-night returns website offers up-to-the-minute statewide results.

"As the presidential race continues to unfold, interest in our primary extends far beyond Pennsylvania," Secretary Cortés said. "The election-returns site will give the voting public, candidates and the press the most complete picture of how the electorate voted."

The portal allows users to customize searches, receive timely updates and view results on mobile devices. The site also provides direct links to each county's election results website.

Visitors to the site can take advantage of a location-based service through the "My County" link which instantly brings up results for the county in which the user is located.

The election returns website can be accessed on the Department of State's home page at dos.pa.gov.  The Department will have results on the site as it receives reports from Pennsylvania's 67 counties after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

On Tuesday, registered Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania will select their parties' nominees for:

• President of the United States
• One of Pennsylvania's two U.S. Senators
• All of the state's 18 members in the U.S. House of Representatives
• PA Attorney General
• PA Auditor General
• PA Treasurer
• Half of Pennsylvania's state senators
• All of the state house representatives
• Delegates and alternate delegates to each party's convention

The reporting of complete vote totals for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Vodvarka will be delayed as some counties will have to manually tally his votes.  On April 19, the state Supreme Court ordered that Vodvarka's name be restored to the ballot, overturning a previous Commonwealth Court ruling from March 31. By the time the April 19 decision was issued, many counties had already programmed and tested their voting machines. Restoring Vodvarka's name on the ballot, and thus reporting electronically, was not feasible for all counties.  

In addition, most voters will see a ballot question to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution regarding the mandatory retirement age for all Pennsylvania judges. However, any votes cast on that question will not be counted/certified pursuant to House Resolution 783. Commonwealth Court on Wednesday, April 20, denied a preliminary injunction that sought to prevent the Secretary of State from carrying out the directive of House Resolution 783 to remove the ballot question. Because of the proximity to Election Day, most counties were unable to remove the question from printed ballots or programmed voting systems.

A second constitutional amendment ballot question, asking voters whether Philadelphia Traffic Court should be abolished, was not affected by the court order and remains on the ballot. All votes cast for the second question will be tallied.

For complete information about voting in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772).

MEDIA CONTACT:   Wanda Murren, (717) 783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us