ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A voting machine scheduled to be used at a Whitehall Township precinct Tuesday on Election Day was misplaced — eventually found locked in a closet next to an artificial Christmas tree, according to the Lehigh County Voter Registration Office.
The machine was to be used at the Whitehall District 7 polling place — the Schadt Avenue Playground Building at 1975 Schadt Ave.
Voters were at the polls Tuesday to vote in the primaries.
- An electronic voting machine was misplaced at Whitehall's 7th District polling place
- After police were called, and the building was searched, it was eventually found locked in a closet, next to an artificial Christmas tree
- The Voter Information Office said it's satisfied there was no criminal intent, and everybody had a chance to vote while a replacement machine was delivered, through provisional ballots
Timothy Benyo, the county's chief clerk of registration and elections, said the misplaced machine was noticed as soon as the polling place opened for the day — and seemingly was nowhere to be found.
While the machine was missing, voters used provisional ballots.
The tamper-evident seal was still intact on the machine, and a backup machine was delivered for voters to use, out of an abundance of caution.
Police initially were called — but Benyo said he's satisfied there was no criminal intent behind the misplaced machine.
