A Chester County judge has ordered three polling places in the Philadelphia suburbs to stay open half an hour later than the rest of Pennsylvania on Election Day, after problems setting up voting machines briefly delayed voting there on Tuesday morning, November 3, the day of the 2026 United States midterm elections. The Chester County Court of Common Pleas granted a petition for a 30-minute extension at the three precincts, the county's Voter Services office announced. Those three polling places will now close at 8:30 p.m. Eastern instead of Pennsylvania's normal 8:00 p.m. closing time.

Source: Chester County Voter Services (chesco.org), Nov. 3, 2026

3precincts given extra time
8:30 p.m.new closing time at the three sites
8:00 p.m.normal Pennsylvania poll closing
15-30 mindelays reported by voters at the sites (CNN)

The three precincts — and exactly where they vote

The extension covers Precinct 201 (Easttown 3), which votes at the Easttown Township Library, 720 First Avenue, Berwyn; Precinct 210 (Easttown 6), which votes at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 217 Berkley Road, Devon; and Precinct 244 (East Goshen 2), which votes at Goshen Baptist Church, 1451 West Chester Pike, West Chester. Voters assigned to those three precincts — and only those three — have until 8:30 p.m. to vote in person.

Source: Chester County Voter Services (chesco.org)

Pennsylvania polls opened at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday. CNN reported that voters at the affected Chester County sites saw delays of about 15 to 30 minutes on Tuesday morning and that all of the machines were running by 7:30 a.m. The county described the cause only as machine set-up issues that briefly delayed the opening of those polling locations; it did not blame the ballots themselves or report any problem with votes already cast.

Source: CNN, reported in Election Day live coverage, Nov. 3, 2026

What changes after 8 p.m. — and what does not

Anyone who votes at the three extended precincts after 8:00 p.m. will cast a provisional ballot, the county said. One deadline does not move: the ballot drop box at the Easttown Library and Information Center still closes at 8:00 p.m., and every other precinct in Chester County closes at 8:00 p.m. as scheduled. A voter whose precinct is not on the list gains no extra time from this order.

Source: Chester County Voter Services (chesco.org)

A provisional ballot is a paper ballot that is kept apart from regular ballots until officials confirm the voter was eligible. Under the Pennsylvania Department of State's provisional-ballot guidance, when a court order extends polling hours past 8:00 p.m., every vote cast after 8:00 p.m. must be cast by provisional ballot. The county board of elections must then review each provisional ballot within seven days of the election and count it if the voter was qualified and eligible and did not already vote in the same election.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, Provisional Voting Guidance (pa.gov)

Why Chester County voters know this drill: the 2025 poll-book failure

Chester County has been here before, on a much larger scale. In the municipal election of November 4, 2025, the county's printed poll books — the lists used to check voters in — omitted the names of 75,076 registered voters who were not members of the two major parties, at all 230 polling places in the county. More than 12,000 voters cast provisional ballots that day, a judge extended voting at every county polling place to 10:00 p.m., and the county later appointed an independent investigator; a corrective action plan followed in March 2026. That history is why a much smaller problem this year still brought an immediate petition to a judge.

Source: Votebeat and Associated Press reporting on the Nov. 4, 2025 Chester County election

Tuesday's problem was narrower in every way: a set-up issue at three locations rather than a county-wide data failure, machines running by 7:30 a.m. rather than a problem that lasted all day, and a targeted 30-minute remedy for three precincts rather than a two-hour extension for the whole county. Election officials have reported no suggestion that any vote cast on Tuesday morning was lost.

Source: Chester County Voter Services; CNN

What happens next

The three polling places close at 8:30 p.m. tonight, and the provisional ballots cast after 8:00 p.m. will go through the county board of elections' review within seven days, as state guidance requires. Voters with questions about their precinct or polling place can check with Chester County Voter Services in West Chester or call the office at 610-344-6410. Chester County, in Philadelphia's western suburbs, is one of Pennsylvania's most closely watched suburban counties in federal elections, and its results tonight will arrive with the rest of the state's midterm returns after polls close.

Source: Chester County Voter Services (chesco.org)

Voting at one of the three sites?

Precincts 201 (Easttown Library, Berwyn), 210 (St. John's Presbyterian Church, Devon) and 244 (Goshen Baptist Church, West Chester) stay open until 8:30 p.m. Votes cast there after 8:00 p.m. are provisional ballots. The Easttown Library drop box still closes at 8:00 p.m.